


I have the honor to be...

by WriterforFunandBoredum



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: AU - Canon Divergence, Enemy to Mother, Found Family, Gen, I am swamped with school stuff - Back near end of March, Raising a human child, Setting: Boiling Isles (Predominately), Themes: Freedom and Servitude, Themes: Power and Corruption, Themes: Sacrifice and Life, Update Schedule: Every 3 weeks - A month, be prepared
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:00:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 38,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27688625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WriterforFunandBoredum/pseuds/WriterforFunandBoredum
Summary: Your obedient servant. That is what Kikimora is, can, and will ever be for her lord, Belos, as she does her lord's will. However, a chance encounter with a mother and her child seeks to change everything that Kikimora stands for, including herself. Will she remain the same or will the demon find a new purpose in the form of a smiling child?
Relationships: Camila Noceda & Luz Noceda, Kikimora & Luz Noceda
Comments: 39
Kudos: 63





	1. Your Obedient Servant

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and welcome all to this monster of a chapter with an idea that I have been brewing for the past week!  
> A few things:  
> 1) This will update every 3 weeks to a month. This fic is actually a side project to my main ongoing story and I wanted to write this story because it kept invading my brain.
> 
> 2) This chapter will have 3 chapters. This won't be a very long fic but I hope you still enjoy it.
> 
> 3) If you enjoyed the story, feel free to leave kudos, comments, and the like because I really enjoy the support of those who like my writing. 
> 
> Anyways, onwards and brace yourselves.

It was dark out, the sun no longer shining in its splendour as the night comes out to play in the concrete jungle, the grey metropolis no longer shining against the bright sun. Now, the gloom returns to dance once more amongst the streetlights and empty streets. Nearby, a quiet suburb was met with the lullabies of crickets and birds, rising in echo to celebrate the coming of night. None dared to walk in the darkness as the shadows prey around each corner and the soft fall of rain falling in an unheard rhythm hit the ground.

All except for one. 

Hidden in the rain were the soft pitter-patter of footsteps calmly strolling in the dark as if it were their plaything. The figure was strolling about, not worried in the slightest that anyone would see them. After all, what good is a scout if they were caught?

The figure was diminutive in stature, barely reaching above the knees of an average human. They were wrapped in a tattered and dirtied grey cloak, hiding away most of their features from common eyes. However, if one would walk closer, they would soon realize that this was no mere human. Muddied brown talons, three on each hand and foot, were only slightly hidden under the cloth of their cloak whereas if not for the talons, their maroon skin would surely catch anyone unawares. Under their hood, haunting eyes of brown in a field of yellow were ready to gladly pierce through anyone standing in their way with a matted hand for hair barely covering them. This was no mere creature. This was Kikimora, right hand to Emperor Belos, ruler of the Boiling Isles tasked with another glorious mission to further the cause of her lordship and the Titan’s Will. 

Her mission? To study the human world piece by piece in preparation for the Day of Unity that her lordship proclaimed many seasons ago. Ever since her Emperor officially took the throne as his own and proclaimed the Day of Unity years later, she was tasked to periodically visit this realm to know their inner workings and ultimately undermine them. With each visit, she feels one step closer in completing her lordship’s plan. True, the Day of Unity may be far into the future but that was no excuse for preparing for the day to arrive. 

This trip was not so different to the many others before. From sunrise to sunset, she observed the day-to-day activities of this realm’s inhabitants, humans, and their many contraptions that filled this world. From tall, concrete structures to the metal machines populating the roads, Kikimora concluded that humans were skilled in the arts of masonry and engineering. She has no doubts that they have also mastered and refined their skills in warfare and medicine. Long ago, she already reported that the humans technologically surpassed the Boiling Isles. It was troubling to admit, but she was ultimately assured by one key thought: human’s complete ineptitude in magic. 

She has seen their so-called _“magic”_. They were mere parlor tricks when compared to what a young witchling can do. She knows and has seen that these humans are incapable of performing any kind of magic and she has confidence in the fact that they can prevail through this factor. 

She enters a deserted alleyway that leads into a dead-end and, upon seeing that it was empty, rummages into her cloak and brings out her most invaluable tool, a crystal orb no larger than a small stone. She checks her it and notices that the usual swirl of colours has disappeared, and it now shows the open maw of a greater demon behind the fragile glass. It was time. 

Shortly after stowing away her orb, a brilliant light shines in front of her, illuminating the darkened alley and herself with it. The sound of a door opening is deafened in the rain, revealing a world rife with danger and chaos. It was the Boiling Isles, her home. Kikimora was eternally grateful that the Titan saw fit to bestow Emperor Belos with a portal door, one of the few in existence, as it made her job of scouting easier. 

Just as she was about to take a step into her homeland, a loud cry of pain echoed near the entrance of the alleyway and heavy footsteps soon followed. She stops herself from entering the portal, curious as to what occurred as the human world is nothing short of their own oddities.

“GET BACK HERE, YOU BITCH!” Someone yells in utter madness, their footsteps stomping heavily on the granite. However, Kikimora also notices another set of footsteps, one distinctly lighter yet filled with urgency compared to the other one. She can also hear the distinct wailing of a young child pierce through the veil of rain, as if it were a siren crying out in the night. She soon hears footsteps enter the alley and her eyes widen. Turning around quickly, she only has enough time to prepare her hand for a spell before colliding with a large oncoming object and entering through the portal.

Kikimora lands hard on the solid ground, the rough brown grass only serving to annoy her as it invades her face. She curses, being caught off guard like this was a rookie mistake and would not reflect kindly on someone of her position. She hastily gets up to see who dares strike her before pausing, a rare look of surprise dawning on her face as she discovers who it was.

It was a woman, a human woman. She looked young yet she already looked worn down by time as the dark bags under her eyes reveal many untold struggles. Her tan skin was marred by dirt and rain, and her brown hair was disheveled, a once neat bun now frayed with protruding strands of hair. She notices that her once faint blue clothing, worn by those that frequent human hospitals, were steadily growing a lush red around her stomach with passing moment. A pity. She has fought long enough on battlefields to know that the woman does not have long to live. However, were eyes were drawn to what was cradled carefully in the woman’s arms, protecting it was from the fall.

It was a baby, most likely to be the child of this woman. The child was cautiously swaddled in a cloth bundle, protecting it from their realm’s elements, and has their eyes closed, whimpering in fear. Or was it pain or hunger? Kikimora can never tell.

“It’s okay, _cariño_ ,” Gently assures the mother to her child, caressing the child’s cheek with her finger, “We’ll be fine. Its okay. Its okay…,” Kikimora can hear the struggle behind the soothing voice of the mother as she tries to keep the pain away from her voice. The child coos, giggling at the gentle touch of their mother. The mother was too absorbed in comforting her child to notice Kikimora and the new world around her, but that was fine. It only made Kikimora’s job easier.

Ragged breathing draws Kikimora’s attention towards the portal entrance and notices that there was yet another human in this world, struggling to get up from the ground. This one was a human male, his skin tanned like the human woman and his black hair was disheveled in equal measure. He was dressed in a red t-shirt and black pants, however any sort of vibrancy that was left in the colours were left dulled and darkened by the Earth’s rain. His brown eyes put Kikimora on guard, as she can clearly tell the madness and detached fury inhabiting them. His stench was no better, as the intoxicating odor of alcohol perforated the air around him. 

“Y-You get back here,” The man’s voice was slurred, and his attention disoriented but his intent was clear. He sways while getting up, nearly falling over several times before he succeeds. He picks up a nearby knife, dripping with blood, and walks towards the fallen woman. “You think you can get away from me? You will PAY for what you did to me!” His slurred outcry was ignored as he continues his approach.

It was clear to Kikimora that he will not stop. With a snap of her talons, the portal begins to shutter, its sound drawing the attention of the crazed drunkard. The man whirls around, his eyes widening at the absurd site he is seeing. An ornate door, intricate in its design appears and shuts closed, revealing a monstrous yellow eye staring directly at the man.

“W-What the fuck?!” The man sobers up at the disturbing sight. He frantically looks around and finally notices that this is not Earth, but rather the Boiling Isles. Kikimora can see the appendages of the Kraken breaking the horizon, can hear the roars of manticores echoing in the air, and observes the breakdown of this lowly worm. “What is this!” He screams to himself, his delirium spiraling into unprecedented depths. A bright flash of light from the portal door temporarily stuns the man, forcing him to cover his eyes as the door folds into itself and transforms into a key. He hastily rubs away the splotches of light from his eyes and sees the portal key fly past behind him as silent as a ghost. Seeking answers, he turns and sees Kikimora staring at him coldly. However, he does not see a servant of Emperor Belos. He only sees a midget wearing nothing but rags with one arm poised as if to point. 

“Where am I,” He demanded, marching over with knife in hand, “What is this place? What have you done to me?” His only response was a bright circle, drawn with precise care and glowing bright red. He feels a warm and sizzling sensation and looks down and sees his entire hand, no, his entire body engulfed in orange flame. He opens his mouth to scream but there was no sound, his tongue and lungs already burnt to a blackened crisp. He struggles, of course, flailing around like the fool he is before collapsing into a pile of grey ash. Kikimora calmly walks over and, after looking with disinterest at the pile, kicks a mound of dirt over the remains. 

No witnesses. No evidence. 

She turns towards the woman still lying on the ground and walks towards her closely, thinking how to best deal with this last loose end before a shaky voice interrupts her concentration.

“I-Is he gone?” Kikimora turns to see the woman looking at her, her voice wavering as she struggles to stay awake. Kikimora can see a line of blood fall from her lips and her eyes look like they fall in and out of focus, “Are we safe?” 

Safe? On the Boiling Isles? Kikimora nods and the woman laughs before coughing, releasing a small spittle of blood. It seems that the woman does not truly realise that this is not her world and realizing that Kikimora is not a human. However, Kikimora chooses not to mention it. A small mercy for the dying mother. 

“G-Good. That’s good. We’re safe,” She turns towards her baby and smiles, rubbing the baby’s cheek affectionally with the back of her hand, “Do you hear that, Luz? We’re safe.” The child, Luz, giggles and opens their eyes, revealing chocolate brown eyes filled with innocence and naivety. 

“W-What’s your name?” Kikimora answers with silence, the breeze filling the void. “O-Oh, that’s okay if you don’t want to say anything. I get it.” The woman tries to get up, but she can’t as if a weight was on her entire body. 

“My name is Camila Noceda, thank you for saving us.” Saving is a powerful word. Kikimora would rather say: delaying the inevitable.

The soft babbling of the human baby filled the air for a few moments before Camila softly speaks, “It’s too late, isn’t it?” 

Kikimora nods.

The woman bitterly laughs. She laughs and laughs before crumbling into broken sobs, tears freely falling down her face. Her child tries to raise their hands to comfort their mother and her mother reciprocates the gesture, softly grasping their tiny fingers. 

“ _Lo siento, Mija_. Forgive your mother for doing this to you.” Luz only babbles in response, “Forgive me for leaving you behind so early.” The mother weeps deeply, cradling her child close to her chest and wishing to the heavens above to watch over her daughter. 

“Please,” The mother please, looking at Kikimora with tears in her eyes as she cradles her child, “Please get my daughter somewhere safe, somewhere where she would be loved.”

Kikimora nods. A white lie wouldn’t hurt. After all, both will be disposed. 

“Thank you, thank you,” The pool of blood around her was thick and far as her shirt was ruined with the crimson ichor, “Thank you so much, stranger.” Kikimora can see the woman slump back on the ground, her breathing slowing to a halt and her glazed eyes staring into the orange sky. She lovingly strokes the head of her child, her Luz, as she lets out one final breath. 

“ _Te quiero, Mija_. Always.” The body lays still. The child cries. Kikimora feels nothing. 

With a practiced motion, Kikimora draws a red magic circle in the air, ready to immolate both the mother and the child in a gulf of flame until a powerful presence was felt behind her.

“What are you doing, Kikimora,” A recognizable, authoritative voice demanded. Kikimora immediately halted her cast and turned around quickly before kneeling, her head down as to not look at the voice’s face. 

“My lord, what brings you here,” Asks Kikimora, feeling a small sense of fear run through her mind. Her lordship should still be in the castle, yet he is here instead. What could this mean?

“Rise, Kikimora,” Declares Belos, “I am only here to discover what was delaying my best servant from her return to the castle. From what I can see, it was something bothersome, yes?”

“Sir!” Kikimora stands at attention and looks at her lordship directly. She notices that her lord, Belos, was wearing once again his pale white robes trimmed in gold and brown and donned his golden mask, hiding away all but his eyes. His staff, a mechanical construction that was a result of many ventures into the human world and many failed attempts, was held comfortably by her Emperor as he awaits an answer, “I was merely taking care of miscreants who followed me through the portal. I am currently in the process of disposing them.”

“Is that true,” His cold, cobalt gaze turned outwards, directing his attention towards to where the portal once stood, “That is highly unlike you to be this careless.”

“My lord, Belos, forgive me for my ignorance. It shall not happen again.”

“You are forgiven,” He says flatly. He walks past Kikimora and towards the fallen mother.

“My lord?” Asks Kikimora, turning around and giving Belos a respectable distance from herself.

“Kikimora,” Belos asks, his eyes staring at the corpse and the wailing child, “What can you tell me about these two?”

“Two humans, a mother and her child,” Responds Kikimora automatically, “The mother was fatally injured with an altercation with a third human that I have disposed off,” She points towards the pile of dirt surrounded by scorch marks. Belos makes an affirmation sound, causing Kikimora to continue, “The mother went into the alleyway before I entered the portal and collided with me, forcing an entry with myself and her child. The third human entered shortly afterwards.”

“I see,” The blue eyes of Belos shone with keen interest as he takes one of his gauntlet-covered hand and pointed at the child, “Tell me about the child.”

“Of course, sir. The child’s name is Luz Noceda, if her mother’s name of Camila Noceda is correct. The child seems to look barely under a few months of age in Earth time. If I must admit, my lord, the child is only alive because its mother was able to escape the third human even with her grievous injuries.”

“Intriguing,” In a rare act of empathy, Belos kneels to Camila and, with his hand, gently shuts the eyes of a caring mother to a close. Belos then looks at the crying child and scoops it up with his free arm before placing it in the arms of a now very stunned Kikimora. 

“Sir, what are you doing?” Asks a shocked Kikimora as she tries to hold onto the loud child, clearly unused to this manner.

“We shall take this child under our tutelage and raise it. We are to also prepare a grave marker for the mother in a secluded area where no one will find it.”

“Sir?!” Kikimora’s eyes widen. This was unprecedented! She knows that her lord is aware that humans can’t perform magic and yet he wants to take in a human child and raise it like a witch?

“It is the Titan’s Will,” And with those four words, Kikimora can feel herself calm down and wait patiently for her lord to explain, “He has told me that this child is a wondrous gift and holds great potential for our realm. We are to raise it and give it the best care it needs. Am I understood, Kikimora?”

“Of course, sir.” Belos then proceeds to walk towards the castle, Kikimora in tow.  
“I am placing you in charge of raising this child, Kikimora. This job is only for my most trusted confidants and I will not tolerate any failures. Am I clear?”

“Yes, sir, of course, sir.” Accepts Kikimora. Long she has accepted that she will serve and protect her Emperor, her life used as Belos sees fit to use. This task is one of many she will partake to further the goals of her lord and the will of the Titan.

“Good. Then let us return to the castle. There is much more work to do for the Day of Unity and we must not delay.” Kikimora quickens her pace as she thinks of the multitude of ways to mold this child into a perfect follower of Belos and how to best create this scenario.

Like an obedient servant. 

Like herself.

* * *

\- **Luz (3 months old)**

Kikimora was many things. She was a spy, a soldier, an advisor. She can easily hold her own against many witches who dared fight against her liege. She could infiltrate the greatest of dungeons and escape with no injuries. She was head of the Emperor’s Coven, magister for several acolytes!

“Child, you need to eat!”

What she was not was a caretaker.

It was only a week since Belos decided that it was ideal for Kikimora to harbor the child, Luz, in her care. At first, she was accepting, knowing that with her skills, she would be able to handle this small bundle of energy with ease. That quickly changed over the course of two days. Day and night, Kikimora was occupied with screaming, crying, and the occasional disposal of waste the child sent her way. That was also when Kikimora realizes that Luz was a girl as Kikimora was often the one changing Luz’s clothers. Luz was also incredibly reluctant to eat whatever food Kikimora tries to give her, forcing Kikimora at times to cast a sleeping spell or a persuasion spell to get her to eat. 

Unfortunately, today was one of those days where Luz was being extremely difficult and Kikimora has the slightest inkling that this was a job that was for someone else.

“Child, for the last time, you will eat this mush without questions!” Kikimora tries putting a spoon full of grain mush into Luz’s mouth but was immediately wacked away by one of Luz’s hands. The clatter of steel on the stone floor was only matched by the angry babbles of the child. 

“Child, this is your last warning, do not test me.” Kikimora grumbles as she picks up the spoon and scoops another portion of porridge into it. In the back of her mind, she begins to ponder if it were too soon to use another persuasion spell to get her to eat before a knock on the door interrupts her thoughts. 

“Um, Mistress Kikimora,” A voice calls out from the doorway of the dining room, “I have brought the scrolls you’ve requested. Where shall I put them?”

Kikimora breathes a sigh of relief as she turns to the doorway and sees one of her star pupils in the Emperor’s Coven. Lilith Clawthorne, second-in-command of the Emperor’s Coven and assistant to Kikimora on many matters that range from the scholarly to the magical. She can see that something must have been bothering her oldest acolyte as her normally straight blue hair was frayed, and dark circles began to form under her eyes.

“Thank you, Ms. Clawthorne. You may put the scrolls on to the table on the side,” She points to a table that has remained unscathed from her attempts to feed Luz as many splotches of Luz’s food lies either on the floor, walls, or furniture. 

“Yes, ma’am,” She proceeds to do what she was told and carefully places a bundle of scrolls onto the table. She then notices that the child was staring right at her, the brown eyes peering deep into the blue eyes of Lilith. 

“If I may, who is this child?” Asks Lilith as she crouches down to the height of the child. She gives a small smile when the child happily babbles at her. 

“A human girl, barely a few months old,” Lilith sucks in a breath, “She is to be raised under our care and taught our ways, so says our lord, Belos.” 

“He knows that humans cannot inherently know magic. If she is to be taught like one of us, how will she learn magic? The old ways were lost to us.”

“Be careful of what you question about our lord,” Kikimora gives a stern glare to Lilith, “He already knows this, and yet he still chose to keep her. It is my job to raise her and I will see this duty with due diligence.” Luz knocks away the food from Kikimora when she tries to once again feed Luz, giggling at the growing visage of exasperation on Kikimora’s face. 

“It seems that you are having some difficulties.” Lilith says flatly. The child gives a wild smile as she claps her hands together and swings her chubby legs back and forth in her seat.

“I have been having some troubles feeding her as she is being rather difficult with me. Each time I try to feed her, she would just knock it away or spit it out. She has been causing nothing but trouble with me.” Kikimora lets out a tired breath as she takes a seat on one of the many empty chairs near the table. The weariness of this morning and the continued failed attempts to feed Luz was already eroding whatever sense she had.

Lilith nods and, after pondering for a bit, takes the bowl of slowly depleting porridge and another spoon, “May I try?” 

“If you insist. It will not be my fault if she decides to knock it away again.” 

“Okay,” Lilith kneels down to the babbling child, a genuine smile on her lips as she takes a scoop of porridge and places in front of Luz, close enough to get her attention but far away to avoid being hit. 

“Say ‘Aah’,” Lilith opens her mouth and Luz, to Kikimora’s amazement, opens her mouth without complaint and parrots the sound Lilith made. Lilith then gently placed the spoon full of food into Luz’s mouth with no sign of complaint from the child.

“See, not so hard now isn’t it.” Kikimora is not sure if that was directed towards her or the child but the rising sensation of envy within her was not hard to miss. Kikimora went off her seat and takes back the bowl and spoon, wanting to mimic the success of her pupil and to not be made a fool again.

“Say, ‘Aah’, Child.”

“BAH!” 

**CRASH – SPLAT**

* * *

\- Luz (6 months old)

“Wah! Wah!” The shrill cries of a baby resonant throughout a cluttered worm and the enchanted walls glimmer with magic, containing the sound to only this room. The sound of rough stumbling can be heard between the cries as a very exhausted figure bursts into the room.

“I’m coming, I’m coming, you shrill banshee.” Hisses Kikimora, rubbing out the drowsiness from her eyes as she awakes to the cry of Luz. This would always happen in the middle of the night this past month and Kikimora swears that she is losing her grip to reality. 

She reaches the makeshift crib that holds the growing body of Luz with no small difficulty, the exhaustion of past sleepless nights forcing her to stumble into the doorframe and stepping on scattered toys. Kikimora delves into the crib and picks up Luz with slight difficulty, the weight of the baby growing bigger day by day.

“Hush now, child,” Kikimora tries to reassure albeit forcefully, cradling and bouncing the baby in her arms, “Its nighttime and a good little human need her rest.” Luz continues to wail into Kikimora’s arms, causing Kikimora to release a frustrated breath.

“Come now, child. The moon is out, and we all need our sleep.” Kikimora thoughts drift back to the mother all those months ago. It was strange. Normally for Kikimora, she would be able to forget easily such a brief encounter and leave it to the whims of the mind. However, nothing Kikimora did was able to remove Camila from her mind, as if it wants her to remember. 

As she continues to try and comfort Luz, Kikimora remembers the way the mother was holding the child, the tender care and loving gaze etched into her form even when she lay dying. It was something that Kikimora can at least respect. To die doing what she cared for. Kikimora sits down, child in her arms, as she remembers one thing the mother did with her child. 

“Hush now, Luz,” She says softer, gentler as she sways Luz from side to side in a methodical manner. Shifting Luz in her arms so that her entire frame lay on her right arm, she takes one of her talons on her left hand and rubs it on Luz’s cheek, “Hush.” The effect was nigh instantaneous as Luz was slowly and surely falling quiet. When Luz reaches to a small whimper, Kikimora gives a sigh of relief. She was half-tempted to cast another sleep spell on the child, but she was afraid of what repeated casts would do to her growth. She already casted it on her three times this week, anymore could hamper her ability to sleep naturally.

Kikimora closes her eyes. She can least savor this moment while it lasts. She doesn’t notice herself falling deeper and deeper into the realms of sleep as she holds Luz close to her chest. 

Kikimora opens her eyes but she knows this is not the real world. She stands within a black void with silence being her only companion. A shiver crawls down her spine. She can feel herself being watched. She looks to her left and right but there was nothing. When she turns around, she opens her mouth in shock. A gigantic skull was staring right at her, its eye sockets filled with a present flame. 

“This is just a dream,” Kikimora reassures herself, “This isn’t real.”

_**KikImORa** _

She jumps, startled at the discordant voice echoing in the void of her mind.

“Who are you!” She shouts but her voice was lost in the discord. 

_**CoMe** _

She feels her form being pulled forward and she nearly screams as the skull opens its mouth and was forcefully pulled into it. 

Kikimora can feel herself falling, falling further to a destination unknown. Soon, images and visages surround her, flying past her at an astonishing speed. She doesn’t have time to process it all as she can only commit to mere glimpses at best. She can see the castle, but it was consumed in fire. She can see the halls of Hexside broken and torn. She hears the roars of a crowd but to what she does not know. 

She sees a light, a bright light at the bottom of the fall. She sees something drawn, several shapes together to form one thing that burns bright. She finally lets out a scream.

Kikimora awakes in a cold sweat, breathing heavily as her eyes dart around to see where she was. She is in Luz’s room, toys scattered on the wooden ground. The crib lays still with no one there. Kikimora almost panics before a small noise draws her attention to her arms. It was Luz, asleep in her arms as the young child squirms in her hold. 

Kikimora calms herself down and does the same thing the night before, causing Luz to affectionately rub her cheek on the talon. However, Kikimora cannot appreciate the sight as her mind was preoccupied in understanding what happened last night. Flashes repeat in her mind there was one thing that stands out. It was a symbol drawn with several shapes in it that brought a bright light. Somehow, that image burnt itself in her mind and she can’t seem to forget it. 

Just what happened?

* * *

\- **Luz (12 months old)**

“Tell me on your progress with the child.” 

“Yes, sir. The child is progressing well in her development and is healthy. It won’t be too long before she will be old enough to further her teachings.”

“Good. Anything else that I should be made aware about?”

“No, sir.”

“Then you are dismissed.” The slow pace of footsteps echo down the halls of a near-empty castle. The grand throne room’s large double doors slam shut, its sound echoing along the stone. Kikimora lets herself wind down, her ling meeting with her lord proceeding well. Its been like this ever since the child was in her care, every two weeks on the same day, Belos would ask of her a report on the child and other auxiliary duties he has asked of her to do. Kikimora, of course, complied, reporting everything about the child and herself. Almost. 

Beyond her reason, she has yet to tell her lordship about the dream she had as she held the child that one fateful night. Kikimora shivers. The site of a disembodied skull floating in her mind was scarred in her memories and it doesn’t help that a flood of images always appears when she thinks about it. At first, it was frightening, nauseating even when the memories come crashing down. Now, after 6 months, it only makes her flinch. However, there was a certain pattern, a method in the madness as it replays. It always ends with the same symbol that erupts into light. She tried researching it, but she has gotten nothing. 

Kikimora approaches the door that she was looking for and enters the room. The sight she sees puts a small smile on her face as she was met with a very tired Lilith sitting down and getting hit in the face with several toys from a very excited child. 

“Ah, Mistress Kikimora, you are back,” Lilith gets up and expertly moves the clutter littering the ground, “And right on time too. She was getting very anxious.”

“Really,” Kikimora raises an eyebrow and looks towards Luz waddling towards her with arms outstretched, “She seems like herself. What happened?”

“Well, when she realized that you were gone for a while, she started throwing a tantrum. She then proceeded to throw all of her toys at me until you arrived.”

“Has this happened before?” 

“None whatsoever. This is the first time this happened actually.” The waddling child reached her destination and made a grabbing motion at Kikimora. Kikimora obliged and picked her up but the growing height and weight was making it difficult to carry her. Kikimora’s thoughts turned towards what Lilith said, her mind replaying if there was any sign of Luz acting out or was being aggressive. 

“Well, then it is a good thing that I have returned from my meeting. You are dismissed for the rest of the day, Lilith.”

“Thank you,” Lilith bows and proceeds to walk out but something stops her. She turns around and her eyes has a serious glint to them, “The other members are becoming suspicious as to why you haven’t made many appearances, Mistress Kikimora. Be aware that people are asking questions.”

Kikimora mentally curses. With the extra duties that have been piled on her as well as taking care of a needy Luz, she has been neglecting her duties in training the younger acolytes into being dutiful soldiers. Any bought of training or lectures she has pushed onto Lilith for the time being, something that the demon was eternally grateful for having such a dutiful comrade. 

“Thank you for informing me, Lilith,” Kikimora adjusts Luz on her arms due to a dull ache forming on her arms, “There is a tome on my desk in my study, Lilith. In it you will find the latest whereabouts concerning your wayward sister. Consider it as a token of gratitude for what you have done for me to the past year.”

“Thank you, Mistress,” Lilith’s voice was filled with emotion, her arms trembling in anticipation. She soon rushed out the room, leaving Kikimora to close the door with a slight huff. Even with all this time, Lilith still wishes to find her sister. Kikimora shakes her head as she carries Luz to her bedroom, she can’t fathom the idea of trying so hard to find a phantom. Personally, she burned her bridges when she decided to follow under Belos, never understanding why her clan brood were reluctant in not pursuing a grand future. To each their own, as the humans say. 

She places Luz back into her crib, reinforced with cushions and feathers when she realized that Luz is a very energetic baby and would bounce around the crib all day. Granted, as soon as Luz’s feet touched the cushions, she was already bouncing around and babbling with happy noises, clapping all the way. 

“Someone is energetic today,” Kikimora mutters. She knows that when Luz gets like this, one of the few ways to calm her down was to entertain and tire you out. Taking a stray plush from the messy floor, Kikimora tries to dangle the toy in front of Luz to get her to play with it but was rightfully smacked away with a loud babble. 

“How rude, Child,” Scolds Kikimora, holding a stern gaze at Luz. She gets a laugh and a clap from the giggling baby. Kikimora pinches the bridge of her nose and turns to walk to the seat next to the crib, grabbing from a nearby table a large notepad and a pencil. Thankfully, this was another way that Luz calms down that Kikimora particularly enjoys doing to pass the time. She noticed that when Kikimora sketches on the notepad, Luz would always be extra attentive and quiet, her eyes easily enraptured by what Kikimora creates no matter how well they’ve been drawn.

The scratching of lead on paper filled the room for a couple minutes, Kikimora’s eyes pinched in concentration. With a satisfied tap, she showed Luz one of the many creatures living on the isles: A griffin captured in mid-flight, spiders flying out from its beak. A cry of happiness to Kikimora, encourages her to do another drawing. Another trial of lead and lines resulted in another hastily made drawing, a few lines smudged from the rough work. This drawing was now a basilisk, its large, scaled body coiled tightly to strike with its mouth open as it brandishes its fangs at an unknown opponent. Luz gurgled at the sight, her brown eyes peering into the paper as she noticeably calms down. Kikimora soon finds herself falling into a pattern for the better part of the morning where Kikimora would draw something like a creature or structure while Luz laughs, bounces, or stares in wonder. Kikimora was so engrossed into the repetitive nature of the exchange that she soon starts drawing without thinking, drawing aimlessly to appease the impressionable child. 

However, after going through a quarter of the paper in the notepad, she stops herself from drawing when she realizes what she has recently drawn. In the middle of the paper was the unmistakeable symbol from her dream, the shapes forming into some type of contraption humans would put out when it rains. The very thought of the human realm’s rain brings a nostalgic sigh to her, the soft splatter of rain was such a pleasure after so many years experiencing the nuisance that was the boiling rain.

Kikimora was brought out of her thoughts when Luz was leaning out of her crib, flailing her arms to reach something.

“Luz, what are you-,” When Luz hand hit the notepad, Kikimora could only watch in sheer amazement and curiosity as the piece of paper collapsed into itself and transformed into a bright ball of light. 

“What?” The surprise in her voice rose as the ball of light floated slowly into the air, stopping above Luz’s crib like the stars in the night sky. It was strange, really. The room felt warmer as the gentle glow of the miniature star radiated softly across the cluttered room.

“Ah! Ah!” Luz punctuated with tiny hops, her eyes wide and smile ever present as she vibrated with excitement. 

Kikimora was, in a word, dumbfounded. It looked like magic. It transformed like magic. Yet it didn’t feel like magic. At least, it didn’t feel like magic that Kikimora was used to. There was no rush of energy going through her heart, no feeling of light headedness of brandishing a new spell, no sensation bursting out of her fingertips. It was just _there_ , for the world to see.

Kikimora quickly drew another sigil and once again, after Luz oh so helpfully slapped her hand onto the paper, conjured another light ball into existence that floated its way beside the other light ball. Kikimora can confirm that yes, this was real, and yes, she doesn’t not feel any more tired. Although Luz was held by no such notion of confusion as she tried to play with the two light balls floating about. Seeing the happiness on Luz’s face causes Kikimora to crack a small smile and, wanting to humor the small child more, began drawing more sigils from the paper. 

It was like the starry night of the open sky. Several balls of light float daintily around the room like will-o-wisps, moving to the gentle sway of the breeze. Somehow, the glow of yellow light didn’t hurt to see. The light felt like a gentle caress, comforting and reassuring to feel. 

Luz was ecstatic, running her hands through the light balls and babbling happily. Kikimora was let out a mellow laugh and closed her eyes, enjoying the moment. In a way, these antics became soothing after a while. It was times like these that make doing the task worth it for the Emperor.

“Mowah,” Kikimora grew still as she opens her eyes, finding Luz leaning over her crib and making a grabbing motion with her hands 

“Mowah. Mowah!” She sucked in a breath, a light flutter going through her chest. She moved to pick up Luz and lightly cradled Luz in her arms, mindful of her talons to avoid hurting her. 

“Silly child. What are you trying to say?”

“Mowah! Mowah! Kikimowah” A warm smile and a gentle laugh came from Kikimora, letting a talon gently caress Luz’s cheek. She didn’t think that Luz’s first word be this of all things.

“Silly child, that’s not how you say my name. Repeat after me. Kiki.”

“Kiki!

“Mora.”

“Mowah.”

“Good! Let’s try again. Kiki.”

“Kiki!”

“Mora.”

“Mora!

“Good! Now together. Kikimora!”

“Kikimowah!”

* * *

\- **Luz (2 years old)**

“Come now, Luz. I have something to show you.” A soft hand held the rough talon of a demon, the rustling of dry grass accompanying the rhythmic footsteps through a dirt path. It was early morning, the orange glow of the Sun cresting the horizon. Kikimora can hear the soft songs of creatures waking up from their slumber but none dare approach where she was going. The child, however, was not faring as well as Luz wipes the exhaustion from her eyes, yawning without care. 

The demon and human duo soon reached their destination, stopping in front of it. Secluded far away from the town and the castle lays a single stone marker surrounded by overgrowth and leaves. The stone marker was unmarked, save for a lone carving inscribed into the worn stone. It was a lone flower in bloom, laying in solitude within the stone. 

“Luz,” The child’s head turns toward her in wonder, her growing brown hair barely covering her eyes, “Do you know where we are?”

“No?” Kikimora expected as much. After all, she hasn’t visited this place with Luz before. However, she has heard before that asking questions to a developing child stimulates brain growth so this shouldn’t be bad to do.

She pats Luz’s head, “It’s okay, Luz. This place is special for you though.”

“Spe-cial?”

“Yes, Luz, special. Look,” She points to the carving of the flower, something that Kikimora requested for the artisan to carve, “That is your mama.”

Luz looks at the flower with confusion on her face and points with her finger, “But flower.” 

“Hmm, yes, it is a flower, but it is much more than that.” Kikimora feels conflicted, another one of her rare feelings that arise occasionally. One hand, she feels guilty for bringing Luz here as she knows deep down that Luz is much too young to understand. It is not like Luz would remember any of this but who’s to say otherwise? On the other hand, a part of her wishes for Luz to have some connection to her departed mother, no matter how small it could be. 

So, this is what Kikimora ultimately decided to do for Luz, start early and ease the realization that Luz’s birth mother was gone from this world and that. Luz may not understand it now but later, when she’s older and when she can hold her own then maybe Kikimora can tell her the truth. That she was a human and not a witch, warlock, or demon. Kikimora brushed a stray curl of hair, revealing another one problem to solve. Sooner or later, Luz will have to leave the castle and her identity as a human must be kept a secret. If anyone outside the castle knew that the Emperor took in a human rather than any witch from the greater houses, or those that were left, than they may face another revolt. 

Kikimora blinks her intrusive thoughts away. Now is not the time to brood future possibilities. She moves closer to the grave and takes out from her bag a bouquet of flowers, camellias if she recalled, and laid them neatly on the foot of the grave marker. She went through a lot of trouble to obtain these flowers and she thought that it would be fitting to use as they have a similar name to the mother. 

Camila Noceda. A woman far stronger that what she let on. Having the courage or foolhardiness to entrust a stranger with their daughter and hope that they keep their promise. 

Stranger still when the world around her went dark and the gigantic skull returns, staring her down with its torchlit eyes. She flinches and turns to Luz usher her away, but she stops, chastising herself that Luz would not appear in her own dreamscape.

“What do you want from me?” She demands although a part of her is anxious, unnerved in the anticipation of another assault of images and visions. Her first set ended nearly year ago, a few days after she drew the sigil and recreated a light spell and was able to think in peace for quite some time. 

The skull opened its skeletal mouth, drawing her in with a tug. There was no voice to call out to her this time. It was only her, the void, and the barrage of new visions to accompany her in her descent into the abyss.

The images flew much slower, unlike before, allowing her to observe carefully what could be revealed. However, these new images bring her closer to home, the familiarity of the images making her uneasy. It was the throne room, the golden throne unblemished in its majesty. Oddly, Belos was not to be seen but the room was not empty. On the sides of the throne room was a plethora of banners, some that she knows by heart as she can see the symbol of the Boiling Isles and other neighbouring nations. Others she was unfamiliar with but there was one flag that she saw numerous times during her stays on Earth. The humans call it the United Nations, a coalition of nations that aid other countries on Earth if there is a crisis. However, if this flag was in this room…

“Then we succeeded,” The excitement climbing in her voice, “The Day of Unity happened, and we have won. We were victorious!” If what this image was true than all of Belos’ hard work has paid of spectacularly. All these different nations, all under one rule. A glorious rule under Lord Belos!

“Is this what you wanted to show me?” She shouts into the darkness. The silence was haunting, the rhythm of her heartbeat the only source of normalcy that grounds her sanity. However, a booming voice soon answers.

_**nO** _

She finds herself waking up from her daze, catching herself from falling. She takes a couple breaths to steady herself, discovering that she stood upright for the entire affair as she tries to process the whirlwind of emotions flowing through her. Anxiousness at the unknown image. Happiness and elation at the note that Belos ultimately won. Confusion as to why the voice told her no. Did it imply that the vision was a lie?

She feels something tugging her near her leg and looks down to see a concerned Luz clutching a fistful of cloth from her rope. 

“Mama,” She cries, the worry in her voice apparent, “Mama.”

“Yes, Luz,” Kikimora tries to reorient herself after her out of body experience and tries to focus on Luz, “That is your Mama.” She points at the grave marker, but the girl only gave a pout, tugging harder on her robe

“Mama,” She insists, “Mama!”

Oh. She picks her up, eliciting a cheer from the child and walks away from the marker, her objective done for the day. If Kikimora could listen closely, she can hear the breeze gently whisper in her ear with the sound of camellias dancing to the wind. 

“Silly child. I am not your mother. I can never be.”

* * *

\- **Luz (4 years old; 5 days until “birthday”)**

“Mama, I’m bored! Can I go outside the castle and play?”

“No, Luz, you can’t go outside today. You still have much to do still.”

“But Mama!”

“No, Luz. Maybe next time.” 

“But you said that last time! I just want to go outside and play!”

“No, Luz. Now go back to your room and finish your studies.” With a pout, a growing young girl with brown hair walked dejectedly back into her room. What was once filled with clutter and a crib was now cleaned, furnished with bookshelves, desks, chairs, and a bed. To the side was a treasure chest filled with toys to entertain her, but it remans closed, the toys untouched for quite some time. 

Once the wooden door to the room closed, Kikimora let out a small sigh, rubbing the growing eye bags developing under her eyes. Luz was growing anxious day by day and Kikimora can see the rising wistfulness and curiosity in her eyes, threatening to burst if not handled correctly. However, trying to solve this would be another story as it was growing harder to keep Luz inside the castle every day. The amount of complaints she would hear from the guards would always tell of a brown-haired witch hounding them between corners and harassing them with pranks and tricks while they worked. 

What to do? What to do? In the middle of this pondering, a knock on her door brings her to her senses and requests whoever it is to come in. With a slight creak, the door reveals one of the guards of the Emperor’s Coven, causing Kikimora to stand at attention.

“The Emperor requests your presence,” The guard curtly declares although the shuffling of their feet betrays their nervousness. 

“Thank you for telling me and I will report to him immediately. You are dismissed.” The guard scurries out without delay. With a nod, Kikimora goes to Luz’s room and enters, seeing the young girl writing in one of the many tomes laid out across the table. 

“I will be heading out shortly,” Luz turns towards her and nods, but her mouth twitches, wanting to ask a question, “Continue your studies while I am gone.”

“Yes, mama.” With a gentle thud, Kikimora exits the room and walks towards the throne room, leaving her with her thoughts regarding the growing child. Luz has taken to calling Kikimora as her mother, even though Kikimora tries to deny such an association. The title should squarely be placed on someone who genuinely cares for her and not someone who was only ordered to take care of her. 

Her thoughts then stray to the visions sent by the giant skull. Unlike the first set where they disappeared, the second set was more than able to interrupt her sleep, revealing even more images and visions than she wanted. Additionally, over the course of two years, the skull showed even more images, some filled with voices, others filled with destruction and chaos. It didn’t make sense. None of these images make sense. She was also no closer to discovering who was this skull who dared to intrude in her mindscape. She even tried casting a spell that tracks those who tampered with her mind but received nothing. 

A huge set of double doors indicates that she has arrived at her destination, forcing her to concentrate on handling the current situation. With a mighty push, she enters the throne room, the golden hall filled with only the presence of two. 

“My lord, Belos. You have requested for me?” She kneels, hearing the beat of her own heart as she waits. 

“Yes, Kikimora. I only wish to know how the child is fairing.”

“Of course, sir. She is doing well in her studies and is moving at a good pace in her demonology and Witch history. Just recently, she even finished the first set of the animal lexicon so I have no doubts that she would be able to identify and handle the animals of our nation. Theoretically, of course. She still needs to be practice when she is older.”

“Excellent,” His chuckle sends a shiver down her spine, “But that is not what I mean.”

“Sir?”

“I have been hearing from several of my guards that the child has been disruptive and impudent as of late. I had yet to realize that the child has grown unruly under your care. Do you wish to be revoked in the privilege to handle her?”

Kikimora pales and her face shoot sup to look at her unamused lord, “Forgive me, my lord, for my carelessness. The child has been unruly because she simply wants to leave the castle and play with other children her age and we know that we cannot allow that. It would jeopardize her identity.” 

“I see,” The air stirs with anticipation. With a thud of his staff, sending a jolt of surprise through Kikimora, he states, “Then let us see if we can procure her someone to entertain her. It would be a shame for her to waste away without someone to share her joys.”

“But who would we request? It would be dangerous to reveal a secret like this.”

“Nothing that a greater illusion cannot solve. And I was thinking of asking someone within our inner circle.”

“Then may I suggest the Blights, sir. They have been steadfast in their loyalty and have heard of a young daughter similar in age to the human.”

“Then so be it. I shall send a missive for them to arrive tomorrow. You are dismissed, Kikimora, and remember, the human is the key to the Day of Unity.”

With a swift bow, she walked out of the room, her thoughts drawn back towards the skull and the human, thinking how to best approach these two different obstacles. When she reaches her room, she sees that the door to Luz’s room was left ajar and upon inspection, found her nowhere to be seen. 

“Foolish child,” She scolds to the air, “Just what do you think you are doing with actions like these. She draws a chair to the entrance and sits, waiting for the child to return so that she can hand out a punishment for this disrespect.

What she does not expect is falling back into the darkness of her mindscape, in the middle of the day no less. She stumbles and twists in the void until she stares at the perpetrator, the skull illuminated by the torches in its eyes. 

“What is it now? You keep dragging me here and I want answers as to why!” A rumble shakes the nonexistent ground, causing Kikimora to look around in surprise.

_**ReVEal** _

“Reveal what?” She asks the skull. A surge of images run past her mind, but these were ones of the past. She sees the visitation of Camila’s grave, the times when Luz refuses to eat, the times when Kikimora was forced to fight other witches. A shudder draws her back to reality, “Just what to do want to me realize?”

_**TrUtH** _

Another flood of images of this time it was of her lord, Belos, but something was different. There were cracks in his mask, the blue eyes that once held a dignified authority looked like it held the megalomania of a mad man. She watched as he burned villages, desecrate buildings and graves, and hound away witches in chains. She shouts when she realizes that the chained witches were thrown in an open ditch and buried. Alive. 

“What lies are these? Our lord would never do anything like this! He is the emissary of the Titan’s Will and he would not do such craven acts!” 

_**BEtRayEr** _

Kikimora could only hold her breath as she sees what was revealed next. It was a series of images, some that happened before such as Kikimora trying to get Luz to understand a particular text, and when Luz tried to eat a light ball. However, what captures her attention was the next array of images. 

It was Luz, but she looked much older, her hair growing past her shoulders and dressed in the regalia of a common witch. However, she looked so tired, so quiet. So, unlike the rambunctious child that Kikimora knows. Luz lays on a table in the room she recognizes. It was the throne room, but it was stained with marks of battle, blood and bodies laying scattered everywhere. 

She soon sees someone enter the room. It was Belos, but his masked was cracked and his royal garb was torn and soiled with crimson. 

“What is it that you want to show me!” Shouts Kikimora to the skull. She soon gets her wish. She can hear manic whispers. It was Belos, but why? A green circle glowed beneath Luz as he approaches the table, and he takes something from out. Kikimora’s eyes widened. It was a gilded knife, slender and enchanted. 

“No,” Whispers Kikimora. She sees Belos stop before Luz and raises his arm upward, knife in hand.

“For the Day of Unity!” He proclaims. And plunges the knife into the heart of Luz.

“STOP!” Kikimora screams and the images shatter, leaving behind shards of memories that deteriorate in the madness. Yet, the final moments keep replaying in her head and she feels something stir within her. Questions run rampant in her head. Luz, Luz was gone. Was this Belos’ goal? To sacrifice her, wasting everything that they have done? Shouldn’t the goal be to become a hand of Belos, like herself?

“Why did you show me this? Who are you? ANSWER ME!” 

_**Titan** _

The beating heart in the throne room appears. Soon, the throne room fades away, revealing the gigantic skeleton of the dead Titan. Something in Kikimora’s head clicks, her eyes widening in the realization.

“You’re the Titan. You’re the one that has been invading my mind? But why? Only Belos should be able to speak with you.”

_**False Prophet** _

There were no images this time. There was only the crippling realization that everything that she was taught to be true, believed to be true was false. She feels everything come crashing down, trying to come to terms that she is probably now the only one who hears, truly hears, the words of the Titan. And it all started because of a little girl from far beyond. 

“What,” She swallows a lump in her throat, “Everything that I’ve known was a lie. Everything I did for Belos was a lie. Everything that I did for Luz… What do you want me?”

She sees a flurry of images. The dimensional door. The grave marker. The key. She knows what she must do.

 _ **Go**_

* * *

\- **Luz (5 years old – Happy Birthday!)**

“Mama, where are we going.” The shudder of the girl in her arms causes Kikimora to look down and wrap her closer in her arms.

“Don’t worry, Luz. We are just going on a little field trip, don’t worry.” The demon reassures to the human child. She hurries through an unmarked trail through an uncharted forest. Behind her, the stone castle illuminates the night sky with an orange glow as a raging inferno runs rampant through its halls.

“Tell me, Luz, how was your play date with that friend of yours?” The demon says, trying to distract the girl from the situation at hand. The girl immediately perked up and immediately began to ramble.

“Oh, it was really cool! I played with this one girl with really pretty brown hair like mine and her friend with glasses and green hair! They played a game called witches and dragons where I was the dragon and I got to destroy the town.”

“Really, Luz?” Kikimora tries to keep her tone jovial, “That’s great to hear. Did you have fun?” Her ear twitches as she can hear shouts and footsteps from far away. Have they found her trail already?

“It was super duper fun!”

“Super duper?”

“Yeah, super duper fun! When is the next time that I can play with them again?” She asks innocently. Kikimora winces at the mention of it.

“Not for a while, Luz, maybe next time.” Luz visibly deflates but perks up again when Kikimora asks, “What were there names?”

“One of them was Amity, the one with the brown hair like mine! She is a bit shy, but she was really fun to play with! The other one is Willow, but I don’t think she was supposed to be there as she came out of hiding from the carriage.”

“Really,” Kikimora gives an amused smile at the child and rubs a talon on her cheek, eliciting a tiny whine from the girl. 

They were at this for some time, Kikimora travelling through the forest while providing a false bravado so that Luz doesn’t realize what is happening. She knows that the fire she caused in the castle will be extinguished soon with the honour and pride of the Emperor’s Coven on the line. She knows that she kept Lilith in the dark, not wanting to drag anyone else into this mess. She knows that their disappearance would be discovered shortly and would be hunted down for. Every second counts and time is against her. Fortunately, she was prepared. 

She grabs from one of the pouches strapped to her side a potion, one that’s effects involve the rapid growth of vegetation and tosses it behind her. The shattering of glass was soon overlayed with the groan of wooden roots warping the path behind her, hiding the trail that she was surely creating. 

“Mama,” Asks Luz, “Why are we running away from the castle?”

Mentally cursing herself, she tries to find a suitable answer, “Because there are bad people coming for us, Luz, and I need you to be safe.”

“Bad people?” Kikimora can feel Luz’s heart rate rise, “Did we do anything wrong? I can say sorry!” 

“No, Luz, no.” She raises Luz so that both their foreheads are touching, the physical sensation calming the girl down, “We didn’t do anything wrong. We just need to get away.”

“To where?”

“To your home.” Her pace slows down, reaching the area that she wants to go. It was worn down by the elements, but it was still standing, Camelia’s gravestone. However, a lone figure beside the gravestone causes her blood to freeze.

“Now, Kikimora,” The calm voice sends shivers down her spine, “How predictable. Did you really think you can take her from me?”

“My lord, Belos,” There was no reverence in her greeting. Only malice, “Step aside.”  
“Really, Kikimora,” She can feel the bloodlust permeate the air, “Do you really think that you can stop me? I am the voice of the Titan, Belos be my name!” She throws up a quick shield, blocking the incoming rush of magic. 

“Is this what you want to do?” Demands Belos, sending another burst of magic her way. “After all these years serving me, you want to throw it all away for this wretched child?” She stays silent, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of an answer. 

“Mama is this the bad people you were talking about,” Whispers Luz, her head tucked against her chest. 

“Yes, Luz. But I have to-OOMPH!” A blast hits her from behind, knocking her off her feet and into the ground. She lands on her side, protecting Luz from the fall, and quickly puts up another shield before another blast strikes it dead center. 

“Mama, are you alright?”

“Yes, Luz, I’m fine.” She stares at the new arrival, her eyes hardening at who it was, “Lilith, I thought you would still be in the castle.”

“I was,” Another blast cracks her shield and Kikimora hurries to get away, “Until I was informed that you were betraying us.”

“You won’t understand, Lilith,” She removes the shield and nimbly maneuvers through the thick growth of the forest, calling on her vast experience as a scout to aid her at this time, “I can’t let him get Luz.”

“Why is she so important to you!” Shouts Lilith, casting a stray blast to shear the forest apart, “Belos would have awarded you for your services. You would have stood at the pinnacle and you want to destroy this chance!”

“Your guilt blinds you, Lilith,” She casts an illusion of herself, sending it off into the opposite direction, “He speaks only of false promises! I refuse to stand by for what he has done.”

“Is that so.” Kikimora can feel something slam her in the stomach, pushing her out of the forest and landing with great force into the clearing. She rolls, stopping once her back hits something solid, cold, and stone. The grave marker. She struggles to her feet and, after seeing Luz still okay but fretting over Kikimora’s wellbeing, places a hand on the marker. 

“Give up, Kikimora,” Asks Belos, walking out of the darkness of the trees and taking a seat beside Lilith, “You will not win this day. Give up the child and I may consider sparing your life.”

Kikimora grits her teeth, blood dripping down her mouth, “No.” She slams her hand onto the marker and a black magic circle erupts around her. 

“Stay back, Lilith,” The amount of fear Kikimora could hear in his voice was satisfying to hear, “You are meddling you forces you do not understand, Kikimora. Cease your foolishness at once!”

“No.” A black tide erupts around like a wave, washing away Lilith and Belos in a grand surge of power. Necromancy, one of the few magic classes forbidden under the coven system and for good reason. A life for a life, the iron-clad rule that must never be broken. With each pulse of strength, Kikimora can feel black tendrils creep up her arms, starting from her hands and creeping up to her elbows. Feeling that they were far away enough, Kikimora collapses, one hand on the ground and stopping the cast as she breathes heavily. 

“Mama,” She can hear, “Mama, are you okay? We have to go, right? You have to get up?” Something crawls out of her arms and struggles to pull her along. She tries to move but the effort to use necromantic magic used too much of her energy than she thought. She can feel black splotches cloud her vision, but she grits her teeth, trying to power through it. 

“Luz, Luz are you there?” She can see something move in front her, recognizing the familiar mop of untamed brown hair, “Good. Good. Open your hands, Luz. Quickly.” She places into her hand one item from her pouch, a key with one unblinking. 

“W-What is it? Mom?” 

“It,” She puts herself up and lays on the grave marker, struggling to stay awake, “Its your way of getting away from here.”

“But your coming with me, right?” She blinks. It was getting hard to see now but she can hear the tears in Luz’s voice.

“I’ll be right behind you, Luz. Don’t worry.” She then takes something else out from her pouch, a crystal, and places it into the ground, “I have a gift for you, little light. It’s something special.”

“Its,” Luz gingerly takes it in her hand, “Its so pretty. What is it, Mom?”

A melancholic smile fosters on her face, “Watch.” She takes Luz’s hand and guides it to the grave marker. Luz gasps as the crystal melds into the marker and a hulking figure emerges from the stone. As if the stone was water, something emerges from the marker, its steps thundering the ground. 

“It’s a golem,” States Kikimora, “A stone golem. It can change and mimic the form of anyone that you want, Luz. It will also be your guardian from now on.” She gives the brightest smile she could give, “Happy Birthday!”

She can feel arms wrap around here, a gesture she was not used to, but it feels nice. She can hear mutterings of thank yous mixed with crying, a sound that breaks her heart. She can hear a distant rumbling in the forest and she mentally curses. She knows that she does not have enough power to protect Luz right now. She also knows that Belos and Lilith cannot get Luz, no matter what. She also needs to make sure that Luz cannot go back to the Boiling Isles, it will be far too dangerous for her to be here. 

So.

She places a hand on Luz’s head, tilting it up so that she can see the girl that she raised. She can see brown eyes filled with compassion and unruly hair covering parts of her face. She wipes away some strands of hair, seeing clearly for the first time Luz Noceda. Kikimora can see the gentleness and compassion in her eyes, a type of compassion that Kikimora can never understand but always support for.

Huh.

Is this what Camila felt all those years ago?

“Mama?”

“I’m sorry, Luz. Forgive your mother. Just this once.” A blue light emits from Kikimora’s hand and Luz stills, her face turning blank. 

A memory erasure spell. 

Necessary, she tells herself. For her safety.

She turns towards the golem and hands Luz to it, making sure to grab the key before hand.  
“Golem,” Its stone head tilts inquisitively, “You are to henceforth serve Luz Noceda. You are to act as her guardian and protect her.” The golem nods, a chattering of stone to confirm.

“You are to also to assume a human appearance,” She places a hand on the golem and transfers a mental image to it, a young woman with tired brown eyes, “You are to assume the identity of Camila Noceda and raise her. Do you understand?” Another chattering of stone. Kikimora mentally asks for forgiveness from the deceased woman, knowing that there was no other way. 

She takes the key and twists it into the air, summoning a demon door wide enough for the golem. “Keep her safe, Camila.” Stone chatters as its steps trudge through the door, hoping that whatever is on the other side is better than here. 

Once the golem was completely through, Kikimora closes the door with no shortage of pain. Just in time too, as Belos erupts into the clearing, rage burning in his eyes. 

“Kikimora,” His voice was level, but his eyes betray him, “Step away from the door. Now.”

She looks at him straight in the eye, red meeting blue. 

“No.” 

Belos screams as Kikimora incinerates the door, making sure not a single part was left. The ashes dance in the wind and the smell of char saturates the air. 

She soon feels herself slam into the grave marker, a steel-like grip wrapping around her neck. 

“You. Will. Pay.” Seethes Belos. Kikimora spits on his mask.

“Burn in hell” 

His eyes burned a stark red as his staff thrums with ancient power, summoning forth a gout of flame.

“I believe that can be arranged.”


	2. Your Wayward Daughter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luz Noceda, the wayward daughter. That's what they called her in hushed whispers. She can't help that she was a little bit different than them, that she acts near-whimsically and wants to read her Azura book. She can't help it that she is outgoing or loud or overbearing. It shouldn't really bother her. This is her home. Earth. Yet why did she feel like a stranger?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you know that feeling that you get when you get so immersed into something and just want to explore it? That was me with this chapter as I had a lot of fun fleshing out this chapter which actually may affect the number of chapters I may put in.
> 
> In other words, depending on how the third chapter goes, I may actually have 4 rather than the previously stated 3.
> 
> Anyways, thank you for the reception on this fic as I know that it is not very popular but screw that noise, I'm doing this for fun and I'm glad there are those that enjoy this story.
> 
> Enjoy the read!

There’s a storm in the country.

Dark skies and howling winds signal the arrival of a tumultuous storm creeping across the drowned horizon. Droplets fall with the sound of steel against steel as the darkened navy of the rain enveloped those that foolishly seek the comfort of the outside world. The roars of thunder and the strikes of lightning crackle within the cover of blackened clouds as if it were laughter amongst children. Even the darkened waves of the rolling tide crash violently along the distant shore of the coastline, battering the land in unrepentant anger. 

It was weather like these that the people of the land draw themselves inward, sequestering themselves away from the wrath of nature. Doors remain closed. The curtains are drawn over glass windows reflecting the gloom of the weather. The rush of footsteps of the foolish echo over sullied roads, their hurried steps seeking protection from the raging elements as the damp cold chills them to the bone. 

It was days like these that memories begin to stir within the minds of children and adults alike, the dreary atmosphere invoking the deepest of memories and the need for more. Some remember of loved ones lost, thinking of brighter times against the gloom. Others think of their friends, thinking about the days spent with warm smiles and playful attitudes. There are even those that dream amongst the waking, hiding themselves away from the dreary reality to a world of their own design and imagination. It is not uncommon then that stories begin to be shared, to remember of tales that were once thought lost. However, in a small corner of a city, all their stories always lead to one thing.

They always speak of the tower on the abandoned coast.

With hushed whispers, people speak of a mighty tower built from stone, appearing overnight with nary a sound. They remember that a once empty coast was somehow inhabited with this structure that rivals the tallest of lighthouses. It was like magic. No one heard any notice of construction. No one heard the tell-tale sign of transports or roads. It was just there plain to see, only discovered by lost children. Naturally, they tell others that there were those naturally curious of the structure, feeling the ever-present need to explore and sate their thirst for the unknown. 

Back then, they would try to approach the tower and pry against the solid, wooden door with all their might, uncaring for the consequences. Once their attempts failed, they tried other means, each attempt reaching their own degree of failure. One by one, people stopped coming, no longer satisfied with their efforts to discover what was inside. However, it was not until there was one last person where the mystery only deepens. 

When there was only one person to approach the tower, they saw something. Under a clear night with the full moon high in the sky, they see something move across the sand. Under the thin veil of darkness, they claim to see the very sand move, morphing into a hulking figure matching the height of two average humans stacked together. They claim that this creature went inside the tower not through the door but through the very tower itself, merging easily into the stone as it if was water. When they snuck closer to the tower, careful to avoid alerting whatever arose from the shore, they stopped once they reached the door, hearing a sound that sent a chill through their bones. 

It was the cry of a child’s laugh, reverberating within the very stone tower before them. 

None dared to approach the tower again once the person returned to the safety of their home and told others what they saw. Fearing that the tower was cursed or haunted, they warded away others that were foolish enough to think about travelling to the lonely tower. 

That was barely a decade ago. 

Now, no one ever gives the tower a second thought save for the strict warnings and ghastly rumours that arose over time of its appearance. They are those that think that the tower was once the home of a mighty king who had unlocked ancient secrets too dangerous for the outside work to know. Others think that it was a secret project by the government. Some even thought it was once inhabited by aliens who left behind one of their structures behind.

They are all wrong of course.

It was merely a simple home for an extraordinary family living in the simple world of Earth.

Amongst the very top of the tower, where regular eyes cannot see, sits a glass observatory filled with row upon row of shelves filled with books of all kind. Laid neatly in the deceptively wide room was a table with several books and journals strewn about in a chaotic manner whose topics ranged from fantasy to artbooks. Off in a small corner in the room, a telescope lays balanced on a stand, pointing upwards to the turbulent sky.

And in the center of the room sitting in a wooden chair and reading a book, whose mind was deep in thought yet filled with an unpredictable and tumultuous nature as the rolling storm overhead, lies a girl no more than 14 years old. Her brown hair was left unbound, letting her hair fall down freely, covering both her ears and the tops of her shoulders. Her brown eyes, aged with gloom and hints of fatigue, were hidden behind the thick lenses of navy glasses, darting between the pages of her book that lays in her hands. Her cocoa-coloured skin was clothed with plain yet comfortable clothes, one blue t-shirt and one black shorts. With one last thumbing of pages, releasing a huff of exhaustion for good measure, she closes the book and gently places it on the table, allowing herself to recline and watch the sky. 

She gives a sigh, allowing herself the luxury of feeling sadness and pity towards herself. She was looking forward to today as this was her one and only birthday, one of the few times in the year that she could even go outside her home and have fun. She was fourteen, young, full of energy, and couldn’t wait to spend it adventuring or playing games. All that was dashed when she woke up to the deafening applause of a storm.

The girl stares into the dark abyss of the storm, unafraid of the thunderous noise or the constant pattering of the rain. Unlike many other kids her age, she finds these types of weather calming for some reason. She doesn’t know why the rhythmic feeling of droplets hitting her was relaxing. She doesn’t know why the flashes of lightning sends excitement down her spine rather than fear. She doesn’t know why the sounds of the waves hitting the tower or the boom of thunder overhead were like a lullaby to her. But she does know one thing.

She was Luz Noceda, daughter of Camila Noceda, and resident of the lonely tower.

For most of her life, this tower was her home, sequestered far away from the bustle of the city or the calmness of the country. Up and down, she long ago memorized the many floors and interiors that encompasses the tower, yet she always finds a way back here. Her sanctuary. The one place where she could go to when things get overwhelming or when she feels lazy and wants to relax. Fortunately, it was the latter. Granted, it didn’t start like this. 

When she woke up to a darkened sky this morning, she knew that any hope to go outside for anything was quickly running out but not forgotten. Frowning at the incoming storm, she swiftly went down the many floors of the tower to see if she can greet her mother before she goes to work, and maybe see if she wants to celebrate with her. Possibly even ask if she can still go outside in the rain for her birthday.

However, fate was not kind that morning as when she jumped into the kitchen hoping to catch her mother unawares, she only saw the empty form of their kitchen. She looks around and something catches her attention immediately, drawing her away from the kitchen entrance. On the modest stone dining table in the center of the room was a small red box and an envelope that laid beside it neatly. She takes both items into her hands and she was surprised when she could feel a good amount of heft hidden within the box. Resisting the urge to peek into it, she curiously looked over the envelope and sees her name written ruggedly on the back. She has little doubts to who has done this.

She quickly takes a seat around the dining table and wile still holding onto the box, carefully opens the envelope, revealing the letter addressed to her.

_Dear Luz,_

_Lo siento, Mija. Forgive your mother for doing this to you._

_My supervisor made a last-minute change in the timetable and I had to leave immediately for work. I promise I will make it up to you later but for now, please stay inside as the weather is too dangerous for anyone to go out._

_I left your birthday gift on the table and it is in a small red box. I hope that you get to enjoy your birthday today even with this crazy weather!_

_Love,_

_Your mother_

Luz gives a wry smile. Always the busy one, her mother. Even when today was her daughter’s birthday, she still gets called away to her busy job. Yet, that was something that Luz should have at least somewhat expected. 

Her mom, Camila Noceda, was a very busy woman, often working under long hours as a rather known archaeologist and field geologist, normally operating in far off dig sites or in the nearby mines. Her mom often tells her stories about the many discoveries that she and her team has found during her time at work. So often were these findings that her mom’s co-workers often joked that she could sense them from the very rock itself. Fossilized creatures, ancient caverns, and lost artifacts were only a few things that were found during her mom’s career, often speaking of them when she returned home. Well, speak in the loosest sense of the word.

Camila was mute. She couldn’t speak with her voice, so she does with her expressions and movements. When Luz was younger, both Luz and Camila took up sign language classes so that they can easily communicate with each other. Many were the nights where both would animatedly tell each other the stories of the day, signing away rapidly until the lights grew dim and when eyes grew too heavy to bare. Lately, they haven’t been able to connect as much, her work suddenly piling up from nowhere. Luz doesn’t mind it at all though, understanding the responsibilities her mother has. She was more than eager enough to wait patiently for the days where they can tell stories under the stars, where Luz can delve into her active imagination and imagine her mom’s findings as part of a robust and mysterious world.

Yet, Luz remembers when she asked how she was able to speak when her mom couldn’t. Her mom waved it off and said something to her, but Luz couldn’t remember. Luz just chalked it up to her long-gone father teaching her when she was too young to remember anything. Although, anytime she mentions her father, her mom would always get this faraway look. Luz learned to not mention her father near her after awhile. 

Turning her attention to the gift, Luz’s smile only deepens when she finally takes the red box and opens it, letting out a small gasp of surprise at what she sees. It was a necklace and a beautiful one at that. Laid on the inner foam was a small, clear crystal connected to a soft, circular piece of twine. The crystal was barely the size of her thumb, but it was radiant in its luster, the light shining brightly as she twists and turns the box around. She gingerly takes the necklace and places it around her neck, admiring how the crystal glowed even in the dimmed surroundings. She places the box on the table, she notices a small, folded note where the necklace was once was on. She takes and unfolds it, smiling even further at what she reads.

_I will always be with you. Even if I’m not there to see._

_Mom_

A warm, fuzzy feeling courses through her chest as she pockets the message. Leave to her mom to brighten her day even when she’s not here and when the day started as bad as it is. She plays with the crystal necklace, appreciating the weight around her neck reminding her of the things her mom does to make each other happy. 

Yet, as she stares at the thick, front door in front of her, she can’t help but sink back into her thoughts and the memories that appear in her mind. Contrary to what she looks like and acts at times, she has no friends. She has no one besides her mom to talk to in this place. She already damaged her social standing at the nearby school to the point where no one wants to even give her a chance or be even be _seen_ with her.

She can’t help but remember all the times that she has messed up over the years in trying to just fit in with the other kids her age. That one time during kindergarten when she walked into class covered in mud, saying that it was a fun thing to do. That one time during 3rd grade when during an art showcase, she brought in a model griffon to show off her skills but was rightly laughed at by her peers saying that it was entirely wrong. They said that there was no way that a griffon had a head of a pigeon or even had spider breath. It was just too weird to be true. She doesn’t even have the heart to argue as she doesn’t know herself, but it just felt _right_ when she made it like that.

There was even one-time during 1st grade when her class went to a zoo to learn about various animals and their habitats that ended in a horrible fashion. Somehow, when the teacher wasn’t paying attention to the class, Luz found herself separating from the group and wandered around the expansive lands of the zoo. It wasn’t until much later that the teacher noticed her disappearance and after a frantic search, found her conversing with various beasts all around her as if she understood the various hisses, growls, and squawks. Lions, snakes, falcons, and owls were all but the few that were miraculously out of their cages and surrounding the excited girl, blissfully unaware of the problem she has caused. The zoo had to shut down that day and the teacher was apologizing profusely. Luz didn’t understand of course and tried to explain but no one believed her when she said that the animals just wanted to talk with her. 

Her chest tightens as she remembers one of her more recent stunts, the one that caused too much trouble for her overworked mother. It was during the last few weeks of school for her 8th grade class where they would be presenting their final project before they graduate and enter the 9th grade. It was a simple project, just a book report that had little fanfare or intricacies. However, simple was too boring for her and she decided to tweak her project just enough to really capture the essence of her book, _The Good Witch, Azura_. A bit of pyrotechnics here and a set of snakes there would really make the presentation pop when compared to other book reports.

And pop it did for it nearly burned the entire school down. Several students were also citing trauma from having uncaged snakes roam around freely in the halls of the school.

It was safe to say that she was promptly sent to the principal’s office.

Her ears were ringing after the talk and her heart was pounding from the stress. She can clearly remember the barely restrained voice of her principial hiding the frustration and disappointment towards her. She can still feel the touch of her mother on her shoulder, the normally comforting gesture instead bringing a sense of dread and cold from her icy touch. The principal gave the Noceda family an ultimatum, bringing from his desk a single flyer.

_Get your daughter under control or expulsion would be the least of your concerns._

The flyer was an advertisement for a correctional camp, _Welcome to Reality Check Camp!_ It promised to reign in any eccentric individuals from anywhere and turn them into a productive member of society. The paper laid crumpled in a lost corner of the tower but the foreboding feeling of such an outlandish item still stings to this day. It was only a few days before the official start of summer, and her mother reluctantly agreed to putting Luz in the camp. Bowing to the orders of the principial. Luz wanted to fight and scream but one look from her mother put her a halt to that, her mom’s cold, blank stare breaking her will. 

To this day, her classmates snicker behind her back, hampering her by spreading rumours about the disaster bringer and her tales of wanton destruction and misfortune. 

Luz Noceda, the wayward daughter. That’s what they called her in hushed whispers. The one completely lost in her own world that she neglects reality. More than once that she has caught other people, mainly adults, saying many cruel and harsh things regarding the two of them. That they feel bad for her mother to have such an overbearing child. That she, Luz, was the reason that Camila was all alone and left to pick up the pieces. That her father was another figment of her own twisted imagination.

She can’t help that she was a little bit different than them, that she acts near-whimsically and wants to read her _Azura_ book. It may be a children’s book, but it is still a good book nonetheless! She also really can’t help it that she is outgoing or loud or overbearing, she just has too much energy cooped up in her! 

It shouldn’t really bother her. These things shouldn’t really hurt her.

This is her home. 

Earth. 

Yet why did she feel like a stranger?

A wet sensation falling down her face draws her away from her thoughts, quickly realizing that they were her own tears. She wipes them away, trying desperately to remove the dark thoughts creeping into her mind. She swiftly exits the kitchen and clambers up the stone steps, seeking solace in her observatory.

With a mighty slam of the aged, wooden door, Luz burst into the room and quickly sat herself in her chair, grabbing without looking one of various books scattered along the table while ignoring the blustering winds and the downpour of the storm. 

Cracking the book open, she breathes a sigh of relief at what she sees and takes out the drawing pencil that was lodged into spiral spine of the book. It was one of her any drawing books, the latest one in fact, but she can still see the numerous amounts of wear and tear on the older pages that were filled with various doodles and sketches. Taking a steady breath, she turns to a fresh page and just begins drawing without a thought, eager to lose herself in the flow of lead on paper. 

She has always loved drawing, the act of creating things from her imagination always had a way to soothe her inner demons. She filled numerous shelves with just her sketchbooks and notepads, her mind constantly creating new and wonderful things to fill her canvas on paper. Mysterious creatures straight out of mythology, unique characters, bountiful environments; she has delved into many realms of possibilities. One of her greatest pieces, in her humble opinion, was a medieval-era castle cast aflame, the stones illuminated by the orange glow of the raging fire under a clear night sky. She put great effort and detail in the wisps of smoke that rose from the inferno and the horror-like formation around the castle. When she showed her mother, Luz was ecstatic when her mom couldn’t say a thing, but she can tell by her widening eyes that it must looked gorgeous and amazing! With her dedication for drawing, her mother even pushed her to apply to an art school when she was older, a thought she filed in her mind for future consideration.

But what she was really proud of drawing was something that she didn’t tell anyone about, not even her mother. It was also something so simple to do too. However, what made them so special and endearing to her was that they came from her _dreams_. 

Glyphs, she calls them. The composition of different shapes and sizes forming into one, specific symbol that held such an air of mystery to them. Pages upon pages of several notebooks were dedicated to solely these glyphs, their ancient and somewhat formulaic form pleasing to the eye. In her head, she imagines that these glyphs were symbols of power or status symbols to signify different hierarchies in a society. She even took some creative liberties and incorporated them in some of her art, placing them on banners or on pieces of equipment as sigils to signify those that they serve. 

However, she would never get tired from the way she receives these glyphs. From time to time when she was asleep, she would feel herself being pulled somewhere and receive vivid dreams revealing these glyphs in a euphoric rush of display. Some glyphs were enchanted with an ethereal purple glow, gnawing at the conjured land of the dreamworld. Others were summoned in a burst of force such as appearing in the middle of flames or wrapped in a tornado. A few were of the gentler kind, soothing her inner self with a soft, luminous glow. Each and every time that she receives these dreams, she would rush out of bed and quickly draw what she saw into her sketchbook so that she does not forget them. These dreams started when she was around 9 years old and in rare occurrences as well but overtime, they would increase in frequency as she got older until they would occur several times a week now. Honestly, she would also lend credence to some of the more elaborate creature designs to her dreams as she would sometimes catch glimpses of unknown monsters appearing from the murk.

She was just finishing the touches on her glyph, one of the first glyphs that she learned to draw and memorized as it appeared in a halo of light, when she felt a wave of lethargy hit her. Stifling a yawn, she looks up into the sky and promptly blames the gloomy and dark atmosphere for making her feel so tired so early in the day. 

Closing her book with a satisfying thud, she leans back into her chair and closes her eyes. Perhaps a nap would do her good for the day? 

So, she lets herself go and falls steadily into unconsciousness.

* * *

**_LuZ nOcEDa_ **

Luz shoots up in alarm, her heart pounding at the eldritch voice. She tries to look around to figure out who said that, but she quickly stopped herself when she realized where she was. 

It was the familiar void of her dreamworld, the one that she would always see before any of her marvelous dreams appeared. One major difference now is that Luz herself, clothed in the clothes she was wearing before, was inside her consciousness and witnessing the growing void expand and flow around her. 

“W-Who said that?” Luz asks nervously, thinking desperately to reassure herself that this was only just a dream where she was just only lucid, “Oh, I really hope this is just my imagination.”

**_tOo LoNg_ **

“AH!” Luz feels herself being pulled somewhere deeper into her consciousness, feeling a rush of trepidation course through her. Gone was the gentle pull and allure of her dreams long past. Now, it felt like a forceful tug, like something or someone was dragging her against her will to somewhere she should not be.

She forcefully came to a stop after what felt like a minute of traveling through her mental space. Out of habit, she spun her arms around to reorient herself, twisting in a way so that she doesn’t fall done. However, something else catches her attention, one that leaves her mouth agape and a pit of despair develop in her stomach.

It was a skull. A gigantic, ancient skull that easily dwarfed her height several times over. It looked battered, neglected, and worn as Luz can easily see patches of moss growing in several areas of the skull, and certain areas missing pieces of bone. However, it was it’s eyes that draw her in, a blazing inferno flickering in life as it stares directly at her. 

She gulps, feeling her throat dry and clam up at seeing the threatening-looking skull, “C-Can I help you? Just please don’t kill me.” 

**_RemEmBEr_ **

With a squeal of terror, Luz could only watch as the skull opened its mouth, the creaking of bone and stone rising as it opened higher and higher until something spilled forth and went straight towards her. Luz closes her eyes, bracing for an impact but it never came. She opens an eye to check but she was soon entranced by what she sees floating in the now starlit void.

They were just like her dreams, numerous projections of light and colour dancing to an unknown rhythm. She sees creatures far beyond her imagination, creatures that arose from the deepest abyss. She sees lands far different than what see is used to, trees as high as towers, buildings archaic in their design and far from the shape of the modern world, and lush plains the colour of gold and honeydew. It takes her breath away as her eyes fill with wonder and excitement. Her hands were twitching, itching for the desire to draw what she has seen.

And then the scene shifts, and her breath was taken away once again.

Magic. That was what she can only describe when she sees magnificent gouts of elements arise from the hands of these people. Witches or wizards, she wants to say as they were definitely not human indicated by their pointy ears and other oddities. She sees several of them trek through a bustling town and she imagines the sound of shouting and haggling as an image of a marketplace was placed before her.

“Woah, what is this place?” Her voice was filled with awe, gone was the feeling of dread welling in her stomach. Now, only fascination and curiosity dominate her mind as she feels the urge to explore this new place.

**_HoMe_ **

“Home?” She asks quizzically to the skull. Oddly, when the shock of everything that is happening wore off, the skull didn’t feel as imposing from before. It felt nice actually to be speaking with it. “What do you mean?”

The scene shifts and she represses the need to convulse in revulsion.

It was a gilded room of gold with an imposing throne in the middle, the darkness stayed away by the flickering light of torches alit by flame. However, that was not what she sees and focuses with all her might not to throw up.

It was a dark green heart far larger for any creature she knows about on Earth. Black veins thick with sickly ichor dot the heart as with each painful beat, she can see the fluid travel through the heart. With each passing second, she swears that she can hear the very pulse of the heart echo through her mind, deepening the sense of nausea in her.

_Ba-dum_

_Ba-DUM_

_BA-DUM_

“STOP!” She pleads, “Please, stop.” The image dissipating without an issue. She feels herself breathing heavily and wanting to throw up. She forces herself to stare into the flaming eyes of the skull, pouring out every note of mercy in her question, “Why did you show me this? Is this even real?” 

**_RETURN_ **

She was immediately sucked into the skull’s mouth, screaming in terror as she traveled through the darkness until she finally sees a light passing through her.

She snaps awake, lurching from her chair at the sudden rush on consciousness. She looked around, processing that it was her room and not the empty void of her consciousness. She breathes a sigh of relief, knowing that the experience was over. She stretches to grab both her sketchbook filled with her drawings and the Good Witch, Azura book, wanting to lose herself in the euphoria of her own mind before she feels it.

_Rumble_

She stood up, her breath beginning to quicken. She can hear the storm outside intensify, the maddening laughter of lightning and thunder rising in manic glee and the winds rushing in a deafening whistle with each second. The rain falls like an avalanche, battering her only barrier to the outside world. Something deep inside her tells her to grab everything close to her, that she needs to leave now. She can feel the hardcovers of her sketchbook and Azura book, the roughness of her school bag, the hardness of the crystal around her neck before she feels it again.

_RUMBLE_

The tower shudders. Luz catches herself before hitting her head on the head, but it does nothing to assuage the paralyzing feeling of despair holding her mind hostage. She tries to move, but she can’t. Her legs weren’t responding to her and she was screaming in her mind to GET OUT!

**RUMBL** - _Crack_

The tower shudders once again but this time, her world **lurched**. 

She feels herself weightless, the flooring under her gone in barely a second. The tower is falling. Her home is falling. And she is falling with it. 

_‘Mami,’_ She thinks morosely, _‘I’m sorry for going ahead.’_

She closes her eyes, letting the elements swirl around her and consume her. The last thing that she sees was not the tower or her room or even the raging storm around her. Instead, what she sees is a small, worn monument surrounded by blackened woodland, and carved in the middle of the stone was a flower insignia.

And everything went to black.

* * *

“Is … going to … okay? She’s … like … for … while ….”

“…not …, King. I don’t … know … she … here. Heck, … lucky … … found … before the boiling … hit or she would … … puddle before ….”

She can hear voices. Whisps of a conversation but she is struggling to hear what they are saying. 

“…, … why … she there …? … rare … find … besides us in … … of the woods.”

“…guess is …good …mine. Here, pass …the herbs. She …need a pick …up before …end of it.”

She smells something in the air. It was aromatic but not distant, the thick fragrance barely tickling her nose. She nearly whines, feeling the need to stay quiet, to stay asleep.

“…you hear that?”

“I did. I think our guest is finally waking up.”

Luz sputters herself awake, hacking loudly into open air. She props herself up on something, coughing loudly as she tries to expel that she thinks is water from her lungs. One of her hands brushes against the familiar smooth frame of her glasses, giving her some solace from the pain.

“Woah, take it easy, kid,” An unknown voice says beside her, “You don’t want to cough up your lungs.” 

Luz remembers. The fall. The tower. The cold feeling of being swallowed by water. She shouldn’t even be here. But where is here?

“Where,” She manages to say between coughs, the pain in her chest decreasing with each passing moment, “Where am I?”

“The safest place on the Boiling Isles for one thing, kid. Frankly, you look like you had a face-to-face meeting with a banshee.” Boiling Isles? That was an odd name. 

“Is that somewhere on Earth?” A bout of silence occurred as her head ached in pain. She tries to observe her surroundings, slowly taking in where she is now. Out of habit, she adjusts her glasses and, blinking through the pain, she sees wooden walls filled with random human paraphernalia. It would have been endearing if she wasn’t so confused. 

“Well, what do you know, looks like we have ourselves a human, King.” 

“Human? What do you-,” Confused at the foreign tone, Luz turns her head, mouth poised to ask a question. She snaps it shut just as quickly when she notices the wild, golden eyes of a woman as pale as chalk in front of her. The rather lanky woman was dressed in a slightly tattered red dress and golden hoop earrings placed on pointy ears. Her large plume of untamed grey hair went down to the woman’s knees and a small fang sticks out of her mouth, gleaming as it catches the light of the room. Notably, a small, skull-mask wearing creature that Luz does not recognize from anywhere was lying comfortably on the woman’s shoulder but was soon scrambling on it’s feet to get a better look of Luz. 

“Woah, woah, kid,” The woman tries to reassure, her hands up in a surrender-like gesture, “Take it easy. We’re only just trying to help.”

Luz lets out a breath that she doesn’t realize she was holding. She realizes that she was pressing herself farther back into something soft, a sofa cushion once she looks behind quickly. Luz could not help but to try and shrink herself as small as possible, looking as little as a threat to this stranger and weird creature. 

“Look, Eda,” The creature pointed out, their nasally voice striking a chord at Luz, “She’s trying to sink into the depths of the plush prison! It would be pathetically funny if she doesn’t look so fragile. 

“Shush, King. You’re not helping the matter at all,” Giving a rough shove towards the creature, the lady proceeded to grab a steaming cup from a small table near her, raising it towards Luz, “Here. You need to drink.”

Luz’s eyes dart towards the cup and than back to the lady, feeling fear and apprehension gripping her. Her grip on the sofa cushions behind her only tighten as she debates her choice in her head. 

The lady scoffs and rolls her eyes, pushing the cup closer to her face, “I swear that it isn’t poisoned. Now drink up, I’m not getting any younger.”

Luz gingerly takes the cup, feeling the smoot nature of the hardened clay, before taking a small, tentative sip of the clear liquid topped with the green sprinkling of herbs. Immediately, she feels a warm sense of relief wash over her, her shoulders slumping at the sense of comfort. She then proceeds to nearly down the entire cup in one cup. 

“Feeling better?” Luz nods slightly. “Good to hear then. Name’s Eda and this little bugger that’s climbing on the couch? He’s my roommate, King. What’s yours, kid?”

“L-Luz,” She says reluctantly, still slightly fearful of Eda, “Can you please tell me where I am or how I got here? I don’t know how I got here, and I need to get back home to make sure my mom is okay.”

“Well, Luz,” Eda’s tone was patient, sitting down to Luz’s height so that her golden eyes can look directly to Luz’s brown, “You are in my house that’s on the Boiling Isles, a different dimension that is definitely not on Earth. As to how you got here, your guess is as good as mine. We just found you laying down in the forest banged up from who knows what.”

“Oh.” Luz tried absorbing all this new information but this whole concept of this place not even being from Earth was overwhelming to her. She barely leaves the tower and she never went out of the country but now? Now, she just dimension hopped like from one of the characters from her book. She’s not sure whether to cry or laugh. 

“Did you happen to find a blue backpack with me then?” She asks with a little trepidation, “It kinda has my phone and I need it to contact my mom.”

“You mean this thing?” When Eda brought out a medium-sized blue backpack with an Azura pin buttoned on one of the straps, Luz quickly snatched the bag out of Eda’s hands and was quickly rummaging through it to find her phone.

“Geez, no need to thank me,” She can hear Eda mutter under her breath, but Luz pays it no heed as she scours through the mess that is her bag. She finds several leftover journals filled with homework that she forgot to remove and her latest sketchbook from the tower, miraculously lacking in water damage. Even her Azura book was inside as well. When she finally finds her phone, she made a small sound of success as she quickly began to text her mom.

**_Luz:_** _Mom, are you okay? The storm was awful, and I need to know that you are alright!_

_Sending message……_

_Message not sent. No connection available._

“Argh!” With a guttural yell, she flings her phone into the couch, breathing heavily as she comes to terms with the fact that she has _no idea_ if her mom is alright and that her mom doesn’t know that she is okay, let alone _alive_.

“Woah, easy there,” Eda sternly says, “You just woke up and you are still too weak to exert yourself like that. What’s gotten you so worked up anyway? Did your mom not send you well wishes or something?”

“Sorry,” Luz grumbles, rubbing the back of her head in slight discomfort and looking anywhere but Eda’s firm visage, “And no, not exactly. It’s just…there was this freak storm happening and it was horrible. Tore down my home with me in it. I don’t think I should even be _alive_ , really. I don’t know how I’m okay but if that happened to me then I need to know that my mom isn’t hurt or worse.”

Luz hears Eda take a step back, causing her to look at the strange woman. Eda looked like she was trying to process everything that she heard but there was something in her eyes that looked conflicted and morose. King, Luz notices in the corner of her eye, sat solemnly on the edge of the couch; an unrecognizable look bequeathed on his mask-covered face as he keeps silent and stares at her. 

Eda coughs into her hand, drawing Luz’s attention to her and allowing herself to focus, “That’s a lot to take in, kid. Now, what would happen if I said that I can help you with your situation of yours?”

Luz raises at an eyebrow at the deliberate implication, “I don’t know. Do you really have something to get me back home? A place that is apparently on another dimension where I don’t even know how I got here?”

“Simple, really.” A near-conniving grin was plastered on Eda’s face as she slowly yet deliberately twirled her finger in the air which somehow summons a teal-grey circle of light, catching Luz’s attention. With widened eyes, Luz watches as the circle expands, dropping a brown suitcase with an actual eye staring at nothing.

“What…?” Luz lets out breathily as her eyes widen at the sight, wonder and curiosity briefly flickering in her eyes. 

“What, kid,” Eda smugly states, “Never seen real magic before?”

“You did magic?” Luz asks incredulously. “You just did magic!?”

“Only a taste, I can assure you,” Eda smirks, revealing her toothy fang more. “Spells, artifacts, etc. You name it, we probably have it and done it. This particular item can most certainly help you get home, I guarantee it.” Eda gestures at the case, propping it forward for the human girl to see clearly.

Luz was ecstatic. The euphoric high of experiencing something straight out of her book and fantasies momentarily overriding the fear within her. Her eyes shine brightly as she carefully raises her hand to brush it against the case. She can feel the smooth and lacquered texture of the wood, and the engravings of the well-carved markings on the cover.

“Woah,” She lets out, her eyes still trained on the eerie object as she now gently holds it in both hands, moving it around to see everything, “What is it?”

“That is a portal door,” Eda remarks, “Known for their ability to hop across dimensions and allows me to stay in business. As far as I know, this is the last of its kind. The only other one that I know of was destroyed.”

When she hears how Eda tells the story of the object she is holding, she stills. The gears in her head begin to turn as she notices a slight shift in tone and the subtle shift in Eda’s posture. She grips the door tighter, an action that only serves to widen the grin on Eda’s face, “Then why give something like this to me? What’s to stop me from bursting out of this room and use this thing to get out of here.”

“Well for starters,” Eda points to an open window and Luz notices the dark environment in the distance. She notices droplets of what looks like rain pouring down outside but something in her mind is telling her to pay closer attention to it. “You’re not going get very far. Aside from us being in the middle of a forest and me knowing every nook and cranny of this place, you do not want to go outside right now unless you want to hurt yourself.”

“And why not?”

“Because the rain outside isn’t like your world. It’s pouring down boiling rain outside which can and will cause acidic damage on anyone who isn’t protected.” Luz gulps, nearly choking on the small lump in her throat as she imagines herself melting outside.

“And secondly, even if you did somehow manage to somehow both escape me and survive the rain, you won’t be able to use the portal door.”

“Really? Are you sure about that? Because I am pretty sure that I can handle opening a suitcase.” Luz replies sarcastically and a little smugly at Eda. However, Eda raises an eyebrow as she crosses her arms.

“Sorry, kid, but that ain’t real,” Eda snaps her fingers and Luz can only gawk as her grip on the case disappears, phasing through where it once was as the case disappeared in a puff of smoke.

“What just happened?!” 

“You didn’t really think that I would just give my portal door to anyone, did you?” Eda snorts as Luz huffs in anger, “Rule #1 on the Isles, kid. Make sure you know which is real and what is an illusion. Besides, I’m still going to help you but I’m not some charity case. You are going to earn it.”

“Then what do you want me to do?” Luz replies immediately, any thought for caution was tossed to the wind as her mind was now deadest in getting the door and getting back to her mom. She doesn’t kid herself though as she knows that if this was any other circumstance, she would happily stay and happily learn everything about this strange new world. Signs of magic, new wild phenomena, unknown creatures, this place was a dream made real. However, her mother was her first priority, as she knows that her mother must be worried sick.

When Eda hears Luz say those magic words, her smile turned conniving.

“Alright, kid, how much do you know about breaking into a prison?” 

* * *

“I am starting to regret my decision!”

The plan was simple. On the crack of dawn of the next day, Luz, disguised under a mask would break into the prison called the Conformatorium with the help of Eda and King where they apparently need to steal back something precious to them. As to what it was that they need to steal, Luz wasn’t told the specifics, but she was told that it was a very important item to King.

When they would break into the prison, Eda and King would lead her to the treasure room where the guards would store all sorts of trinkets taken from anyone unfortunate enough to be arrested and brought here. Finally, when they got whatever they needed to get, they would make a hasty getaway before alerting any of the guards and be home safe and sound. No fuss, no danger. It all sounded simple too, and Luz was confident in Eda’s abilities as a magic-casting witch, so says the lad, Eda, herself. There shouldn’t be any problems, right?

Luz cursed under her breath as she ducked under the swing of a white-clothed guard with a bird mask, panting as she dashed away from adversary. The rumble of several footsteps was growing louder in the damp halls of the prison as time quickly passed, enclosing around her position to capture her and eventually, Eda and King. If they can even find the hidden duo first.

The plan was a mess from the start. Immediately as they entered through the prison through a grate, they all just so happened to encounter a guard patrol once they leapt down. To Eda’s credit, the witch swiftly managed to knock out the guard out with a well-placed blow to the head with her staff, but she was unable to stop the guard from raising the alarm. Once the screech of the alarm rang around them, the torches lined across the hallways turned from a comforting orange to an eery green, making Eda mutter a string of curses.

“Don’t worry, kid,” Luz annoyingly parrots Eda as she dashes through countless corridors, “We won’t get caught by anyone. I’m the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles, we can handle this, and no one would notice. Well, Eda, that turned out JUST fine, right!?” Her lungs burn from exhaustion, but she can’t stop running now. She can hear the shouts of guards rise amongst the noise and she can’t afford to be caught and be subject to whatever they do here.

A shiver runs up her spine as she remembers the haunted and gaunt looks of the numerous prisoners held behind thick metal bars. Many were either scarred or bruised black and blue. Many were also sporting several lacerations and sometimes even sporting broken arms or legs. But their eyes are what made her choke on her breath. No matter how gruesome the injury or how clean they looked, they all had the same distant, broken look. Luz swore right there and then that she would never let herself end up like that.

When Eda and King were right beside her and running for their lives, Eda promised that she won’t let Luz get caught, saying that she has no right to get caught up in their mess. However, that promise was swiftly broken when their measly group was broken up by an onset of guards rushed between them, cutting off Luz from Eda and King. Eda told her to run, to get out of here and meet up later. Luz had no choice but to flee, losing herself between all-to-similar stone walls and the waking husks of living beings. 

Luz turns a corner to another darkened hallway and nearly stops herself from running from the nauseating stench polluting the air. The smell of rot and decay coursed over her and nearly gags but she holds it in, pushing further into the hallway to put distance between herself and the hordes of guards behind her. They shout and jeer at her, but the sound grows dimmer as she runs further and further into this decrepit and unsettling passage.

Thinking that she lost them, she slows to a stop and rips off her mask, taking many much needed breathes and avoiding the need to collapse on her knees in exhaustion. She can barely look up, her form hunched from fatigue. In her mind, she tries to remember the way back, but it was all blank. She was hopelessly lost, hidden away from the guards swarming the prison. She tries to straighten herself up but something heavy immediately crashes onto her side, making her hit the floor hard. Her eyes were filled with black spots and stars, and her mask lays cracked and unusable at her side.

“There you are,” A deep voice emanates from the haze of pain clouding her mind, “Tsk, of course I got the kid instead of the Owl lady.” An iron-like grip was on her arms as she tries to recollect herself from the pain. She can hear the rustling of clothing and the clinking of metal resound in the quiet hallway, making her immediately hyper-focus into consciousness. She sees the burly form of a guard mere inches away from her, one hand pinning both her arms along the cold, stone floor, and the other rummaging behind his back. 

“Your luck ran out, kid,” The guard states as he takes out a pair of cuffs, “I’m not sure how you lasted this long but you’re going away for a long time. But not before you help me get the Owl lady.”

“Owl who?” She says quietly, her voice still muted in pain. A blow to her face quickly shuts herself up, groaning in pain as she tries to stay awake. 

“Quiet, you insufferable maggot. No talking back to the Warden now,” He states, “You are going to do as I say, and if you help me, I may consider lightening your punishment. Otherwise, well, I think you’ve seen enough of the other prisoners to get an idea.”

Luz immediately began to struggle and flail against his grip, trying desperately to loosen his grip on her arms to get away. The Warden’s grip tightens once more, threatening to break her arms from the stress. 

“Quit struggling, you brat,” The Warden growls in annoyance as he tries to place the metal cuffs on her. However, during Luz’s flailing, she managed to luckily strike the Warden between the legs with her own. With a grunt of pain, the Warden reflexively let go of her, allowing Luz to scramble away from him.

“Urgh, that hurt! You’re going to pay for that!” With a guttural yell, the warden lunges at her, his burly frame drowning her vision and his arms outstretched to detain her. In her panic, Luz immediately grabs the nearest object around her and, with all her might, swings it at the Warden. With a sickening crunch, the Warden’s mask cracks under the force and the Warden crumples onto the floor, unmoving.

Luz breathes heavily, her eyes locked on the still form of the Warden. She glances at her hand and notices that she was tightly gripping a thick, stone brick. It was splattered with blood, the crimson staining the surface. 

_‘D-Did I just kill someone?’_ She immediately let go of the brick, the thud of stone on stone overshadowed by the near-manic breathing she lets out.

“Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God,” She quickly mutters in a panic, “I just killed someone. I just killed someone! What am I going to do? What am I going to do!?” In her panic, she presses herself further and further into the wall, wanting to melt away and get away from her misdeed. 

“My, my, Warden, is really that time again?” A voice calls out from the cell beside her, the one with the Warden’s body in front of it. “It hasn’t been a week and you come again to interrogate me? My, how desperate you must be waking me up from my slumber.” Luz hears something shuffle towards the front of the cell, and after a slight pause, a slight chuckle rings through the quiet hallway. 

“Warden Wrath debilitated? Most unusual,” The mysterious voice mutters with Luz barely managing to hear it. The voice sounded apathetic with notes of curiosity intertwined with it. From Luz’s hiding spot, she unknowingly draws herself in, barely brushing against the stonewall and causing small pebbles to dislodge and hit the floor. 

“I see that I have a guest,” The voice says, causing Luz to freeze in place, “It seems that I have you to thank for removing this obstacle. No use in hiding as it is only the two of us so please, show yourself.” 

Without much thought, Luz jumped out from where she was hiding and landed in front of the cell, putting her head down and began to ramble. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do it, but he just lunged, and I had to do something but now I don’t know what to do, I’m lost in this God-forsaken prison and I don’t want to be stuck here so please help!” 

A beat of silence passed before the voice huffs, “Well, I can’t very much help you behind these bars and shackles, now can I? The Warden should have his master key in his pockets. I need you to get and unlock the entrance and my shackles for me to be any help. Can you do that?”  
Silently, Luz quickly nods before spinning around and, convincing herself that this is for her own safety, rummaged through the Warden’s pockets, letting out a small shiver of revulsion when she brushed her hand too closely to exposed skin.

To say that she jumped when she found the keys would be an understatement as once she felt the cold steel hoop of metal keys, she leapt as far as possible from the body, nearly colliding with the bars of the jail. 

“Look for the one shaped in a bat’s form,” The voice helpfully supplied, “That would be the master key.”

Luz kept quiet and her head down, her hands fumbling through the mess of keys until she found what she was looking for, an obsidian-coloured key with the head of it shaped into a bat, its wings outstretched. With a loud clink, Luz inserted and twisted the key into the lock, the door swinging wide open once Luz opened it.

“I give you my thanks, stranger. As repayment, I will aid you in your escape,” The shuffling of feet amongst stone grows closer but Luz dared not to look up, terrified of what was hidden away in this worn area. 

“However, I cannot aid you to the best of my ability if I still have these shackles on me. And it is bad manners to keep hiding your face like this,” The voice chided, intertwined with the clink of chains echoing in the room, “Come now, raise your head and unlock these dreadful cuffs.”

Luz steels herself, controlling her breath so that it is an even pace and looks up, only to find nothing to see under the dim light of the room. She then looks down, and her eyes widen at the sight.

The creature was small, nearly reaching the height of her knees. Their appearance was much what would describe King, outlandish, as resting entirely on the top of their head was a mangled, blue monstrous hand. The creature had talons, three on each arm and leg, that were dirtied and long with heavy-looking shackles inscribed with foreign letters weighing them down. However, what completely captures her attention was not the rags of tattered clothing covering her body but rather her skin that was poorly hidden or treated. What was once was a demure and unblemished hue of maroon was terribly marred by scars embedded deep within their flesh.

The scars were old, deeply rooted and mangled. Scars that look like darkened tendrils were wrapped viscously around their legs and wrists, extending as far as their elbow. They wove seamlessly into their maroon skin, rippling and shuddering with every movement, as if these tendrils were alive and eating through the muscle. However, it was the burns that took Luz’s breath away.

A crown of red thorns. That was what Luz could only describe the horrific wound that was wrapped around their exposed neck, as if it were choking them with each breath. Her eyes slowly crept up the creature’s figure to their face and notices another terrible wound. It was another harsh burn scar, this time molded like a flickering flame that rose to the creature’s entire left face.

That was when she finally notices their eyes.

One was like jasper, a comforting mixture of brown and mellow gold. The other was scorched into pale glass. Both were widened, a dawning look of realization shattering like crystal as soon as they see her own.

“You shouldn’t even be here…” They said quietly, their voice as quiet as a ghost.

Luz, whether it be nervousness, anxiety, or both, couldn’t bite back her retort, “Well I’m sorry but I can’t help that I was brought here in this world against my will! I was just trying to get something so that this one lady in exchange can help me get back home with her magic portal! But I can’t do that since I got separated from them and I don’t know if they are okay!”

Her outburst causes the creature to slightly flinch, taking a small step back with their eyes trained on her in what Luz could describe as abject horror. The creature took a second to observe her and then pointed, “That necklace… Where did you get that?”

The request was said so softly that Luz didn’t process it at first. When she realized what it asked, Luz protectively clutched the crystal pendant and looked right back at them, “It was a gift from my mother, for my birthday yesterday.” Her grip then tightened on the crystal, allowing it’s hard exterior to bring back her confidence in strength, “That’s why I need to get home. My mom doesn’t know that I’m even alive and I can’t even contact her. So please, I need your help.”

It was calm and still, her own heartbeat being her only companion in sound to the silence. It was not until that the frame of a heavy shackle was put into her frame of vision that she was given her answer. 

“I will help you. Now, shall we?”

* * *

Beautiful, destructive, and efficient. That was what Luz was given a front row seat too once she let Hecate free. 

Every guard patrol that they’ve encountered were quickly overwhelmed with the magical prowess of the recently escaped prisoner. Her magic was like artistry in motion. Her spells were cast and released with an ease befit with decades of mastery as when each spell found their home on a guard, the guards would always crumple under their weight.

When Luz asked for her name, she stated she long ago casted away her name, saying that it was a cursed name that only brought misfortune and ill-omens to those around her. Luz decided to call her Hecate in homage to her favourite book series to make things easier for each other. Hecate didn’t disagree.

They’ve been running for a while with Luz struggling to keep up as Hecate’s small form hid away a cat-like nimbleness and agility. They haven’t slowed down in the slightest when they made their mad dash for freedom, with Hecate occasionally encouraging her to keep up.  
When Hecate came to a sudden halt in front of a massive door, Luz almost crashed into both her and the wall in front of them.

“What is this? Is this the exit?” Luz asks in a hurry, taking in as much breath as possible for their next run for escape.

“No.” Hecate says simply, “At least, not at the very moment.”

“What is that supposed to mean!” Without a word of reply, Hecate simply opened the door and walked in, leaving Luz to gape at the act’s simplicity. When she finally decided to follow, her eyes widen at what she sees.

The door did not give the room justice for the sheer scale in size. It was a gigantic room nearly flooded with mountainous piles of items that nearly touched the ceiling. 

“This is the evidence room,” Hecate states at her side, “Or as others may call it, the treasure room. This is the place where the guards put every confiscated item that they could find from any unfortunate prisoner.”

“Wow, this is perfect,” Luz turned her head to look at Hecate, “But did you take me here?”  
“I thought that it was obvious?” Hecate states, confusing Luz, “You said that you needed to retrieve something to exchange for a way to go home, correct? I’m assuming it is related by someone by the name of Eda?” 

“Well, yeah,” Luz shrugs with her eyebrows scrunched together, “But they didn’t tell me what they wanted to steal. And I have a feeling that Eda and King are long gone now. I don’t think that they would fault me for leaving what it is behind so why are we still here? And how do you even know that I am referring to Eda, I didn’t even mention her before.”

“Let’s call it a prisoner’s intuition.” Hecate soon began to hum. With each clack of her talons, she walks around the room and inspects several piles by their base, releasing a content hum when she was done. She then stops at one and leans into it to plunge her arm into the pile.

“What are you doing?” Asks Luz, standing behind her and now confused at Hecate’s action.

“Retrieving this,” Hecate effortlessly pulled out from the pile a worn notebook, the paper inside worn away with bits of grime and dirt. However, the notebook looked well used. The binding had a noticeable crease and many pages that Luz can see were bent or scuffed with lead smudging.

“A notebook?”

“Yes, my personal one,” Hecate replies with a fond tone, “Now, do you have anything to write with?”

After patting her pockets, Luz surprises herself when she feels the familiar bulge of a pencil. Taking it out, she gives Hecate the pencil who thanks her and then begins to do draw. 

“Is it really the time to draw?! We have to get out of here!”

“Patience, child. Watch,” Hecate rips out the paper she used and placed it on the floor. Feeling her curiosity get the best of her, Luz bends down to see what it is and gasps. 

It was a glyph, like the ones that she can see in her dreams. But how does Hecate know what these are?

“It’s something that will help us get out of here and get your acquaintance back their item,” Hecate states, mistaking Luz’s silence for an unspoken question.

“But how?” Luz says quietly, mystified that someone she barely has these glyphs. And if what Hecate is implying is true, then that means that these glyphs are magic and that her glyphs in her book are actually spells! Luz turns her head, her mouth open to ask, “How do you know these?”

For the first time since their escape, Hecate flinches. It was brief and small, but Luz sees it before Hecate can recompose. 

“It was taught to me,” Hecate flatly says, “They decided to teach me several glyphs when I was younger. Whether I wanted to or not.” 

“Oh.” There was a certain melancholy at the way Hecate says it, but Luz didn’t have time to pry for an answer before Hecate simply walks away, drawing what looks to be the exact same glyph. Once the glyph was done, she rips the paper and places it somewhere else in the room, repeating the process three more times before settling back into the center of the room where Luz was. 

“Ready?” Hecate asks, kneeling in front of the first glyph with her hand hovering over it.  
“Sure?” Luz hesitantly replies, “For what though?”

“This.” Hecate tapped the glyph and the whole room glows, lighting up in sequence as the other areas where the glyphs were placed were encased in light.

“What is happening!” Luz manages to yell before the light grew too much to bear, forcing her eyes to close. She soon feels a lurch in the air and her entire world shifts. Up felt like down, left was right, and everything was spinning so much that she felt like throwing up. 

“You can open your eyes now, child.” Hecate’s voice calls out from beside her. Slowly, Luz opens her eyes and sees the familiar structure of Eda’s home in the distance. The orange glow of the setting sun left the house with an almost ethereal glow, leaving her stare in wonder. 

“W-What just happened?”

“A translocation glyph,” Hecate replies simply, “It allows me to travel anywhere in this world only if I know the place well. That includes those items that were in the room.”

“You got all those items!” Luz says in astonishment, “But where did it all go?”

“A demon never reveals their secrets,” Hecate replies cryptically, “Now, its best that we are on our way. I have a feeling that your companions are waiting for you.”

“Okay.” And so, they walked, a gentle silence between to two as they approached the home of the proclaimed strongest witch on the Boiling Isles. 

When they were near, something from the door extended and shouted something into the house but Luz couldn’t quite hear it. However, not even a second passed before the door burst open and something rushed out. 

“Kid!” Eda yells out, approaching closer and closer to the duo “Thank the Titan that you’re okay! I knew you’d get ou-” Eda soon stops in place, realizing just who is right beside her.

“Just what do you think you are doing,” Eda asks with a sneer, venom dripping in her words, “Why are you here, you lap dog?”

“Hecate, do you know Eda?” Luz asks Hecate, confused as to why Eda was mad. 

“Hecate?”

“You can say that we know each other,” Hecate answers. The demon then directs her attention to Eda, who crossed her arms and looked ready to shout her away, “I hear that you want to send her back home, is that correct?”

“Yeah, what of it?”

“And that there needed to be an item offered in exchange?”

“Yeah, but the heist was a failure. If she’s worried about that then there is nothing to worry about anyways, I already decided to send her back.”

“Really!” Luz shouts but Hecate puts her arm in front of Luz, halting her from her outburst.  
“That is good to hear but it is not proper manners if such an exchange is broken,” Hecate states diplomatically. She then draws a spell circle in the air, summoning a compass pointing eastward, “Consider this payment rendered, Eda.”

“A dial with some needle?” Asks Eda, “You’re going to need to do much more if you are going to satisfy my demands. The kid’s free but you’re not if you think I’m letting you go that easily.”

“Do not worry. That device merely points to the trove I just acquired.”

“Trove? What trove?”

“The one that I just so happened to steal from the treasure room, the one that you failed to steal from,” States Hecate, briefly stunning Eda. Eda’s eyes were then widened in increasing interest as she gives a small snort. 

“Well, I’ll be, that is unexpected,” Eda stores the compass in her hair and looks at Hecate, still looking cross, “I’ll take it as a peace agreement between us but don’t think that this will make me forgive you for what you’ve done.”

“I understand completely. I thank you for your generosity.” Hecate bows, her face flat with the lack of expression.

“You’re welcome,” Eda flatly replies. She then turns to Luz, her mouth turning into a small smirk, “Ready to go home, kid?”

“Yep,” Luz brightens up in reply, “Don’t get me wrong, this place seems cool, but I think I experienced enough already. I can’t keep my mom waiting after all!

“Don’t worry, I’m sure that your mother will understand what is happening.” Hecate mentions. The thump of wood against grass draws their attention as Eda throws out the case onto the ground. With just a few seconds, the case springs to life, opening by itself to reveal the glowing form of door hanging in the air, revealing a wayward tower off from the coast. Luz feels a familiar warmth stir in her chest when she sees her home. The tower may be broken in pieces, the rubble littering the beach, but it was home to her. Maybe her mom was somewhere there looking for her?

“Well, whenever your ready, kid.” Eda says with a smirk.

“Thank you, Eda! And you too, Hecate!” With a burst of emotion, she runs up and hugs the two, leaving them disoriented at the action, “I’ll make sure to always remember you! Maybe someday I can comeback here.”

“If you do, it will be too soon,” Eda snidely replies. Hecate mutters something to herself quietly but Luz couldn’t hear it, but she assumes it was something nice.

“Bye,” Luz waves, “Thank you for everything!” She walks to the door, hand outstretched to prepare herself to travel through dimensions, but something happens. 

Her hand didn’t go through the door. In fact, it was preventing her from crossing as her hand was resting on the open portal like a glass window. 

“W-What?” Luz then tries to push through, using her entire body to push through this invisible wall blocking her from returning home. The image of the broken tower, her home, was taunting her, causing her to become increasingly agitated. 

“Let me through…” Luz struggles to push through, already leaning into the door to push her way through.

“Let me through.” Luz tried to shove her way through, her body hurting with each attempt, but the rising adrenaline, fear, and panic was making her not feel anything but the drive to get. Back. Home!

“LET ME THROUGH!” Luz screams at the door, pounding with all her might with her fists and kicks from her legs. Her anger and fear were at their peak, causing Luz to manically strike at the portal as if to break the invisible wall. 

“I SAID LET ME THROUGH YOU STUPID, GOD-DAMN DOOR! LET ME GO SEE MY HOME! FUCKING LET ME SEE MY MOM! LET! ME! GO!” Each word was punctuated with a swift and brutal strike at the door. Her eyes were drowned with mania, but the coolness down her cheeks made her realize that she was in tears. With a final desperate scream, she launches a punch straight at the door and cries out in pain, clutching her arm and collapsing onto the ground. Her heart nearly stops when she hears the tell-tale sounds of the door closing. It didn’t go through. She didn’t get through. 

“Luz,” A soft voice beside her said, feeling the rough texture of talons touch her shoulder. It was Hecate, “That’s enough.”

Luz just breaks, her will gone and gripping the soft grass as a lifeline. She cries until there was no more tears. She screams until her voice turns hoarse. She laughs with tearful hiccups that this is all just a dream, that she will wake up in the embrace of her mother and laugh it all away. She hugs Hecate, knowing that she needs something to comfort her and that she may never get to see her mother again. 

She falls further and further.

And Hecate is there with her, wrapping her arms around Luz as the girl weeps for her mother to come home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Am I evil for leaving it there? Maybe.
> 
> Anyways, if you liked the chapter, leave a comment, kudos, and stuff if you want as it is always welcome to know how you guys are liking it. 
> 
> See you guys next time in the next month!


	3. Your Unlikely Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When the portal refused to let her go, Luz felt like she lost everything. Never in her life has she felt so helpless and desperate to return to the place that she once called home. For Kikimora, the sight of an adopted daughter she left behind long ago puts her in conflict with herself, after hearing what happened to Luz on Earth. Now, more than ever, they need to help each other but will they come to realize what was truly lost?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Crashes through doors
> 
> FINALLY! I am here with the promised chapter within the (admittedly extended post date) month! Kind of. I'm typing this up on January 31 so technically speaking, it's done by that day but very late at night.  
> Sorry for the delay. Being blindsided with schoolwork, writer's block and good ol' writer's block prevented me from uploading this earlier. Regardless, I hope you enjoy it as much I did when I was reading this. 
> 
> Buckle up.

_G-Good. That’s good. We’re safe._

_Child, you need to eat!_

_Silly child. What are you trying to say?_

_I am not your mother. I can never be._

_After all these years serving me, you want to throw it all away for this wretched child._

_Forgive your mother. Just this once._

“NO, DON’T GO!” Luz bolts out of her restless slumber, a scream tainting her lips as she lurches forward from her bed. Her eyes were wild, darting in every direction as to figure out where she was. In her manic waking, she launches one of her arms forward, leaving it outstretched as if to reach out to something. 

“W-What?” Luz looks around hesitantly, her rapid heartbeat slowing down once the adrenaline stopped flowing through her veins. She was safe she tells herself. She was safe. With a small sigh, she lowers her outstretched arm and draws it close to her chest, letting her breath even out while allowing herself to refocus where she was. It was her temporary room that Eda gave her as a place to sleep, something the girl was eternally grateful for after the crushing realization earlier this week. 

When it was given to her, the room was bare and was covered with a thin layer dust. After a great deal of cleanup and moving stuff around, the room was at least livable for Luz’s standards. A reasonable pile of clutter peppered the brown, dilapidated floor, giving some sense of life and usefulness to the once empty room. Scavenged clothing given generously by Eda were laid in a big, unsorted heap by the open closet, their bright colours and various clashing designs appealing to the eye. Her bag and books were strewn about on a nearby desk by the glass window, it’s curtains opene to allow the orange light of the early morning to illuminate the room. Her bed was rather minimalistic, an uncovered mattress, her wool blanket, and pillow. Beside it was a small nightstand with her glasses, necklace, and oversized toque, an item given by Eda to hide her ears, on top of it. 

After everything Eda has done and given to her these past few days, Luz was forever grateful. After the portal door refused to let her through, she just shut down, lashing out at both Eda and Hecate with words she didn’t mean but can never take back. She should have been grateful that Eda was so willing to give her a place to stay, instead of being angry or rude. Unfortunately, until Eda figures out why the portal door functioned like that, Luz was forced make herself comfortable in the new world. 

She may not have shown it at the time but the busywork to make herself comfortable in her new room was nice to have, the hard work distracting her mind from the uncompromising reality. 

A gentle knock on her closed bedroom door catches Luz’ attention, freezing her in place, “Luz, I heard you shout. Is everything all right? Do you want me to come in?”

Luz lets out a small sigh of relief, berating herself that she was not in the company of strangers. The voice came from her fellow escapee, Hecate, a demon that is as mysterious as her proficiency with magic. During these past five days, Hecate was cordial and friendly to her much like Eda, but the demon’s calm and controlled behaviour was a definite contrast to Eda’s wild behaviour. It was Hecate who would try to console Luz with her loss the most, often just letting Luz vent while Hecate listened. 

However, there were times that Hecate was awfully distant when they were together, often looking at her weirdly or staring at her when she rattled off with her fears and worries. It looked like Hecate was being reminded of something, but Luz couldn’t put down what it was. There was a slight inkling on the back of her mind that she should know but nothing seemed to click no matter how hard she thought about it. It was honestly becoming annoying. Those thoughts were easily brushed aside when her mind drifts back to the prison when Hecate used what certainly looked like glyphs in front of her to escape. All those years of being shown these fantastical dreams, all those times drawing what she thought were just harmless sigils were literally symbols of power drawing on the forces of magic to conjure a spell to life.

The question of why, though, was growing. Why did she have these dreams? Why was she sent to this world? Why did the portal not let her through? Why does Hecate know how to draw and use these glyphs? It was always why, why, WHY! The desire was like a raging bonfire burning brighter with every question, only doused with answers that she does not have. But Hecate may have them. It was only a matter on how to ask these questions to Hecate without sounding crazy. 

“No thank you, Hecate. You don’t need to come in,” Luz calls out to the demon behind the door to remove the small bout of silence that permeated the conversation, “I’m fine.” A lie. A lie that she tells herself everyday, “Just had a bad dream is all.”

“Okay, Luz,” Hecate sounded a bit skeptical, but she seemed to accept Luz’s answer, “If you need anything, I will be downstairs and preparing your breakfast for the day. Should I leave it behind the door like before?”

“Yes, Hecate. Thank you!”

“Very well. I shall return shortly,” Hecate’s footsteps grow quieter as she goes down to the main floor, leaving Luz to the growing pool of thoughts whirling through her mind. 

She lets out a small sigh, leaning back so that her back touches the wall and drawing her knees to her chest. Her thoughts drift to her rude awakening, the voices echoing in her mind when she concentrates. The voices were distorted and far away, yet they sounded real. For the life of her, she doesn’t know why she has these voices recurring when she sleeps, their incessant chatter bringing about blurred flashes of images that was nothing like her vivid artistic dreams. Much like her entrapment in this realm, these dreams started in the first night, frightening her with their bombardment of images. She was slowly getting used to their intrusions, but she wonders what these dreams could mean. Were they someone else’s?

A different knock catches her attention, this time from the window. Rubbing her eyes, she notices a blurred, tubular, brown form hitting her window with no intentions on stopping. Grabbing and putting on her glasses, she slides off her bed and makes her way there with a small smile on her face, knowing just who it was who graced her morning. 

With a push onto the glass window, she waves at the figure heading her room, “Morning, Hooty! How’s it hanging?”

“Morning to you too, Luz!” The tube-shaped bird greeted back, twisting, and turning with happiness. The brown-feathered bird demon of the house turned out to be an odd companion for her in the so-called Owl House, his eccentric demeanor a welcome change to the morose atmosphere that Luz has been putting off lately. Hooty extended into Luz’s room, shaking his head happily as he continues talking, “I’m doing great! I had a really good dream last night where I thought I was out hunting, and I caught a were-rat with just my beak!” 

“Sounds like you had a nice night! Nothing like mine anyway…,” Luz’s happy demeanor morphed into a miserable frown, grumbling with annoyance as she crossed her arms. 

“Ooh, that sounds bad,” Hooty moved his cheerful face closer to Luz, nearly hitting her nose, “Did the insects start inhabiting the mattress again? Oh boy I hope that is true, I can go hunt again!”

“What? No, Hooty, its not bugs or anything,” Luz gives Hooty a confused expression and gently pushes him away, “Just had a bad dream is all.”

“Oh, I see,” Hooty moves back and turns his head, “Did you try casting a sleep spell? I hear from Eda that you can sleep a hundred nights away without even having a single nightmare! Worked wonders for her!”

Luz gives an exasperated sigh, “Hooty, I thought we’ve talked about this. I’m human, I can’t cast magic.” Luz then turns on her heel, walking towards her bedside desk before putting on her necklace and grabbing her wool toque, pulling it down her head to cover her ears, “Though I wish I could. That sleep spell sounds like something I would use.”

“Aw, it can’t be too hard,” States Hooty, “Just get a magic bile sac implanted into your heart and you’ll be fine in no time! I can even supply the sac, watch! HURGH!” Hooty proceeds to open his mouth to retch, recoiling as he coughs repeatedly and sending spittle in the air. 

Luz lets out a laugh, “That’s gross, Hooty! I think I can live without a green, grey, muscly thing next to my heart! Although,” She places a hand on her chin, quirking her head slightly as she thinks out loud, “If it means getting me to cast magic then maybe….”

“OOH! What are these, Luz?” Hooty stopped his retching and swiftly turned to her desk, his eye catching on one of the open pages of her drawing book, “It looks cool! What is it?”

Luz walks over and notices that Hooty was enthralled with a page filled with newly drawn glyphs, “Oh those things? Just something that came in a dream. Been drawing these since I’ve been a kid and to make myself feel better really. It’s kind of like a comfort thing I go back too.” The only difference that now she knows that these call upon actual magic when activated, a thought that acts as a warning when she draws her glyphs now. As far as she knows, completed glyph are activated by physical touch so she now has to be careful when she turns a page, or one stray touch would cause her notebook to become the center of nature’s wrath. 

“Wow, neat!” Hooty then points his beak at one of her newer additions to her book, the smudging of the lead still fresh from the previous night’s late doodle session, “Ooh, that one looks like the one that red demon uses. What was her name again? Hecab?”

“It’s Hecate, Hooty, please get it right,” Luz then leans over the desk to get a better look at the glyph that Hooty pointed out. It was a rough sketch of the glyph Hecate used back in the prison for their timely escape. Luz’s take on the glyph had many erased imprints from her many attempts to get the drawing right, causing the paper to wear thin and at risk of breaking. It was also the first glyph that Luz has drawn that hasn’t come from one of her dreams but rather from real life experience, so she was determined to capture its likeness correctly. 

“Hecate is a weird person. But she is also good!” Hooty mentions, his eyes filled with delight,” I thought I had to eat her but then she gave me a nice potion treat that makes me feel silly so she’s on my nice list.”

“That’s…great, Hooty,” Luz, avoiding the feeling of being weirded out, then turns her attention to what Hooty said before, “Wait, you said you’ve seen her use this? When?”

Hooty gives a nod, causing his entire body to move as if it was bowing, “Yeah, I saw her use it with Eda a couple times these past few days! It was really cool, summoning all those trinkets and stuff from out of nowhere!”

“Summoning? Hooty, its not a summoning glyph. I think Hecate called it a translocation glyph. Don’t know what it exactly does but all I know that it moves stuff around.”

“What? No, it’s a summoning glyph. Here, watch!” Without warning, Hooty lunges beak first towards the glyph, causing Luz to burst into action.

“HOOTY, NO!” Luz immediately swats Hooty away from her book but in her eternal misfortune, she accidently skims the surface of the glyph with the tips of her fingers, causing the page to tear itself from the book and start to glow. 

“Oh God,” Luz then shuts her eyes when the glow turned brighter but it was different than when Hecate used it. Small flashes of red and blue intertwine with the bright, white glow, shining in a pattern as Luz feels reality distort. Luz then feels the unmistakable lurch of being moved against her will, feeling wind whistle past her ear, and hurtling forward until the world stops around her. 

“AAAAHHH, oof!” Unceremoniously, Luz lands on a pile of leaves stomach first, leaving her winded. 

“Okay,” Luz mutters to herself as she helps herself up, clutching the side of her head from the bout of dizziness waving over here, “Note to self, set boundaries with Hooty regarding my drawing book. Also, never try using glyphs that aren’t well drawn or something bad happens. Never want to live through that again…,” Her stomach gurgles and she covers her mouth, trying to ride the wave of nausea until it passes. 

_‘Should I try to recreate the glyph and hope that it will send me back to Eda’s place?’_ Luz then feels the urge to heave come up again, this time allowing herself to retch to clear the feeling, _‘Yeah, no. Don’t want to tempt fate again. Looks like I’m walking back.’_

“Now, where am I?” She mutters out loud, wiping away the last of the spittle on her mouth with the back of her hand. She looks around, hoping to see some sign or clue of the Owl House but all that she is greeted with is the looming height of trees and foliage.

“Alright, don’t panic, Luz,” She tells herself, taking a deep breath to center herself, “You just need to navigate through an unfamiliar forest to a house you barely left from in a whole new world that could probably kill me. Great.” She raises her arm and waves a pointed finger in random directions, “All right luck don’t fail me now. Eeny meeny, miney, mo and let’s go!” With courage in her step, she takes another deep breath and walks forward, making sure to keep her eyes open to any danger that lurks in these woods.

“Urgh,” She says annoyingly after walking through chosen path a bit, “I really wish I had my shoes with me right now.” She stops and lays herself on the side of a tree, raising one on her feet to remove the larger twigs and pebbles lodged in her before moving to the next.

“Why couldn’t I be transported to a beach or city or something,” She grumbles as she returns walking, “At least there I could have some fun or have an easier time finding my way back to the house. If I was transported to the city, I could’ve maybe asked the locals about where Eda’s house was but NO! I just had to go through another forest adventure with critters everywhere! It’s just like 1st grade all over again minus the zoo animals…”

The morning glow begins to grow larger as Luz tries to make her way back with only the clothes on her back and her diminishing optimism. It was getting tiring seeing only dirt, rocks, and trees, and the, admittedly, weirdly shaped insects she found were no help on finding her way back. She tried talking to them, but they must have been too young to understand her as they just leapt away. 

Thinking back, her ability to talk to animals and insects was rather weird in its own way. At first, she thought that she was one of those animal whisperers that just innately knew how to interact and talk to them. Yet, ever since that 1st grade field trip to the zoo, she found herself starting to fully understand animals around her like any other human being. Anytime that those zoo animals screeched, barked, or roared, she would somehow know what they would mean. In her young mind, she thought it would have been rude to ignore such obvious conversations, so she found herself butting into their talks, even mimicking their sounds as a sign of respect!

She doesn’t remember much else after hearing that they wanted to get out of their cages and stretch their legs after being cooped up for so long, but she did remember that they wanted to continue talking.

_SNAP_

The sound of twigs crunching causes her to freeze in place, making her heartbeat skyrocket. She carefully listens if the sound was just from her imagination and not from any large creature prowling through the forest for it’s next meal. 

_SNAP_

The second crunch of twigs causes Luz to go in autopilot, causing her to dash behind the large trunk of a tree nearby. She presses herself against the tree, trying to keep as still as possible to make sure that whatever beast that was out there would miss her. 

“Stupid Amity, who does she think she is?"

That…That didn’t sound like any animal she knows. Peeking from her cover, Luz discreetly tries to see who it was and sighs in relief when the thing she sees wasn’t a hungry animal with many rows of sharp teeth. 

From where she is, Luz can see a stout looking, glasses-wearing, green-haired girl pacing around in a circle within a small clearing while a cart loaded with a cauldron filled with purple liquid resting on the side of a rock outcropping. Judging by the pointed ears and human-like appearance, Luz mentally concludes that the girl was probably like Eda, a witch from the Boiling Isles. If the stories from Eda were to be believed, of course. The girl was wearing something that looked straight out of a medieval prep-school with its black dress, boots and shoulder cloak, and green sleeves and leggings covering her arms and legs. However, it doesn’t look like the girl was handling something well because with the way that she grits her teeth and shuddered with clenched fists, _she was furious._

“Who does she think she is for constantly gloating and being so cocky!” The girl ranted, raising her hands in the air, “Its not like being the best student in the track means that she can act like that!” The girl huffs and stops in place, sitting down on the ground and looking at the sky with low spirits, “Why couldn’t I be in the Plants track instead of the Abominations track? I’m much better in handling plants then working with this stuff.”

Luz couldn’t help but feel sad for the poor girl. From what that she can tell, this witch must have been having trouble with something magic related, something that Luz can kind-of relate to with her subjects back home on Earth. She can count the number of times that she felt like the classes she took weren’t for her, causing her to struggle through them. She takes a small step to the side, but she quickly takes it back. 

_‘What are you doing, Luz? Get it together!’_ Luz thinks to herself, her stomach rolling in anxiousness as she internally debates herself, _‘Do you want to talk to the girl or not? She seems friendly, I think. Maybe she knows the way back to Eda’s?’_ Steeling herself, Luz goes to confront to the girl.

_C’mon, Luz! Let’s play, let’s play!_

“Argh!” Luz clutches her head as she quietly seethes in pain. She slams her back on the tree’s trunk, sliding until she touches the ground as her head pulses with agony. In her mind’s eye, she sees fleeting images of two children playing in a field enclosed by stone walls, laughing, and tumbling through the dirt without the care in the world. Luz can barely tell what the two looked like, their faces blurred beyond recognition. Every laugh and every cry sounded familiar to her, yet at the same time it felt foreign. 

Once the pain was finally ebbing away, Luz fell to on all fours, clutching the dirt as she tries to refocus. _‘W-What was that?’_ She takes several deep breaths, her eyes bulging as she tries to recollect the images that came to the forefront of her mind, _‘I…I don’t remember any of this. Is this real?’_ Luz tries her hardest to remember how old she was when this happened, but everything came up blank. 

_‘What is going on with me?’_ Luz asks herself. She gets back up from the ground and looks at her dirt-covered hands, _‘Is somebody trying to tell me something?’_

“Well, well, look what we have here?”

“Ah!” Thinking that she was discovered, Luz instinctively ducks into the underbrush, curling herself into a ball so that thick foliage can hide her from whomever discovered her. She waits nervously for the perpetrator to discover her, so she arms herself with the closest thing to fend them off, a long wooden stick from the nearby ground. A moment passes and she hears the grinding of stone but not the rhythmic tapping of feet on dirt and rock. Oddly, it sounded that it was moving _away_ from her rather than moving closer to her. Feeling her curiosity being piqued at the conundrum, she carefully moves the shrubbery in front of her in a moment of bravery to see who or what it was. 

Once she cleared the shrubbery with little difficulty, she sees a sight that she was deeply intimate with. 

In the clearing where once there was only one witch, there were now two but the newest one stood with pride while the other one was slightly hunched in defeat. The new girl had aquamarine hair, skin as pale as porcelain, and sharp eyes burning with contempt towards the green-haired witch. She also wore the same thing as the other witch, making Luz think that it was something for a school.

“Willow, I didn’t see you here. You were just so easy to disregard.” The aqua haired witch said haughtily, her arms crossed with a sense of pride as her mouth spits daggers at the now-withering girl, “Its just, you try so hard in our class, but you always end up at the bottom of the rankings. Shame that you had selected this class, you would’ve done much better somewhere else.”

Something inside Luz snapped. A smoldering fury began to rise as she continues to watch this arrogant, pompous neanderthal of a person continue berate and demean this _‘Willow’. This anger for someone else, it seems irrational for her, but she doesn’t care right now. Maybe it was because of the constant barrage of memories of her classmates always speaking ill of her in the halls, saying that she was nothing more but garbage._

__

____

_Freak!_

_Weirdo!_

_Foolish Child!_

There was a feeling of static and a pulse ran through her head, but she wasn’t feeling any pain. The only thing that she was feeling right now was anger, anger at the aqua-haired witch. 

__

“Maybe you should just save herself the trouble and just drop out? It would save you and me some good.”

__

Luz was not willing to let history repeat herself in front of her, no one should experience what she had once felt.

__

“HEY! LEAVE HER ALONE!” Luz burst out of where she was hiding, leaves and twigs sticking to her clothing as she marched towards the two witches with rage in her step. Both witches quickly snapped their heads towards her, the green-haired witch’s eyes widening in surprise while the aqua-haired one’s face twisted into a snarl. 

__

“Who do you think you-,” The aqua-haired one starts with her teeth bared and her eyes narrowing in annoyance. However, when both Luz’s and her eyes meet, her eyes quickly morphed into confusion before widening again in surprise. 

__

For Luz, however, the same feeling of static and pain rumbled through her mind once she takes a closer look at the girl. She sees that there was a spot of brown hair growing on the roots of the witch’s head and their golden eyes that once held fury were now replaced with a certain sense fragility as if the witch couldn’t believe what their eyes were showing. There was another pulse in her head, but Luz couldn’t feel the pain, her tirade making her disregard the coming headache. However, the moment that she tries to speak, a brief flash of what she thinks is a memory comes crashing down with full force, overriding anything that she tries to say.

__

_‘H-Hello there. My name is Amity. Do you want to play with me?’_

__

* * *

__

“Y’know, no matter how many times I see it, I still won’t get used to seeing the Emperor’s right hand demon cooking breakfast in my home.”

__

_“Former_ right hand, Edalyn. I also wish to be no longer be associated with Belos so please stop saying that.” Kikimora sighs into her coat as tries to cook a wide range of food for breakfast. At first, it was peaceful, the quiet sizzling of the food calming to the senses matched with the mellow hums of the creatures in the distance. However, in the middle of her cooking, that peace was shattered when Eda barged in with her rhetoric and need for Appleblood.

__

“See, here’s what I don’t get,” Kikimora hears a chair being drawn from behind her and the sound of Eda plopping onto the seat, “I don’t get your angle here. One minute I hear you preaching our Glorious Emperor’s good graces and trying to get me captured, and the next I hear from every newsstand that you tried to overthrow the Emperor. So, what going really going on here?”

__

Kikimora pinches the bridge of her nose before moving pans filled with food away from the heat and allowing herself to turn and face Eda, “There is nothing for you to be concerned about, Edalyn. I will not be causing you or your home any trouble while I am here. And to clarify, I did not try to overthrow the Emperor, I merely tried to run away from him.”

__

“I’d say good riddance, but I feel like that was a few years too late,” Eda then takes a swig from her mug filled with Appleblood, her eyes sharpening as she opens her mouth to speak, “But then, what caused you to switch teams so eagerly, Kikimora? I can’t think of anything that would that drastic to get you to do that.”

__

“That, Edalyn, I cannot tell you. That is something I shall take to my grave,” Kikimora states clearly, turning back around to finish cooking the food, “Now, I must finish the food soon or Luz will get hungry. And please, call me by new name of Hecate and not Kikimora when we are in the company of other people, Edalyn. I want ensure that no one would know I have escaped.”

__

“Only if you stop calling me Edalyn,” Kikimora hears Eda mutter. Eda then takes another swig of Appleblood and taps her finger on the wooden table as she says, “That’s another thing actually. What’s with you being so close to the kid, anyways? I mean, I get she helped you escaped but aren’t you just being a little bit too much?”

__

Kikimora stops momentarily, a river of emotions flowing through her as she stays quiet trying to think how to respond to it. Seeing and thinking about Luz always revives memories she long thought buried in the deepest recesses of the mind, ones that would continue to haunt her as the nights grows long. When she was captured and put away to rot, her thoughts always turn back to the little girl that she had raised and what could’ve have been if she was better prepared for that fateful day. Thoughts of what happened to Luz and if she was okay lurked in her mind, rearing their effect once the Warden was finished in trying to extract information from her. And in the furthest corner of her mind, where anything that was there was left to decay into the vestiges of unconsciousness, was the question of what she did that night was the right choice. She thought she would be spared from that answer and the horrors that she would have to face. 

__

Fate wasn’t so kind. 

__

When she heard the prison in an uproar, all that she could think about at the time was if there was someone trying to break out again. It wasn’t uncommon to hear the occasional prisoner, who haven’t had their will broken into tiny shards, to try to break free and escape. None made it out alive. She would hear several of the grunts brag about how many they had to put down during their tenure and she resolved herself to waste away in this cell to make sure that they don’t get the satisfaction of killing a former member of the Emperor’s Coven. 

__

Hence, when she saw Warden Wrath in front of her that day unmoving, she was curious as to who would be so bold to do such a thing. After all, it is no small feat to defeat the Warden. So, when someone stepped out of the shadows, babbling with their nonsense, Kikimora thought that this was an easy ticket to escape and finally be free. 

__

But when she finally saw who it was, her heart stopped, and her breath was taken away. It was Luz, there was no way in mistaking that face for anyone else’s. The soft brown hair that Kikimora would used to stroke to get the young girl to fall asleep, her large brown eyes used to be filled with wonder and joy, and her face that would smile back as if Kikimora made her entire world. For a moment, Kikimora thought she saw was a figment of her imagination, a cruel joke played by Belos to finally make her break. It almost worked too, as seeing her adopted daughter all grown up and filled with panic and fear made her heart wrench. 

__

Thus, she resolved herself to aid Luz in the girl’s quest to escape and return to Earth as the Boiling Isles was much too dangerous for the human to be in. She fought with a fervour that long laid dormant, removing anything in her path so that Luz can stay safe. 

__

When they finally escaped, Kikimora breathed a sigh a relief hidden from Luz, thinking that Luz can finally return to Earth and be with the golem she tasked to keep Luz safe. Yet, when the portal door opened to reveal a shattered stone tower amongst a coastline, Kikimora soon realized that maybe her decision all those years ago was wrong. 

__

And when the portal door refused to let her go through, something that has never happened in the history of the Isles, Kikimora never felt so helpless when she saw Luz cry.  
Kikimora promised herself right there and then that she would help Luz get back home, no matter what. 

__

“Luz lost nearly everything that day, Edalyn,” Kikimora finally says, albeit quietly, turning just slightly so that her scarred eye was staring into Eda, “The only hope she has that still drives her is of us finding a way for her to return home. This is the least I can do for her.”

__

Eda stares back for a long time before she takes a big gulp from her mug and looks to the side, taking keen interest to the plaster of the wall, “Well, if you put it that way than I can’t say I blame you,” Eda then rubs the back of her head, running a hand through her grey mane as she gives a small frown, “Geez, now I feel bad.”

__

“It’s quite alright, Edalyn. You were fair in your questions,” Kikimora plates an assortment of food and places it in front of Eda, “Now, it would be quite rude for a guest such as myself to not repay their debts to their hosts. Please, enjoy the food while I bring Luz her breakfast.”  
Eda momentarily looked stunned, staring at the plate of food with shock before licking her lips, “Well, if this is what I get for harboring a human then sign me up.” As Eda proceeds to dig into the meal sighing with content, Kikimora makes her exit, grabbing a plate filled with food and made her way towards the stairs. From there, she encounters Eda’s roommate midway through the flight of stairs who was rubbing the sleep from his eyes with his tiny paws. 

__

“Good morning, little demon. How do you fare this morning?”

__

The demon yawns, his eyes barely keeping themselves open as he struggles to look at her attention. “Its not ‘little demon’, its King!” He says tiredly, waving a fist at her before dropping it completely, “And I’m doing just fine. Now what smells so good?”

__

Kikimora gives a curt nod, “I simply made some breakfast for the entire household. Only fair after you left me to reside here after my escape. Please, help yourself to it if Edalyn hasn’t eaten the last of it.”

__

“Waagh?!” With that last cry, the last vestiges of sleep that clung to King’s form immediately disappeared as he hurriedly scampered to the kitchen before his meal was consumed by Eda.

Kikimora allowed herself to give a small chuckle at the sight, _‘My, what a lively bunch. It is quite the difference compared to when I lived in the castle.’_ Memories of an older, simpler time re-emerge. One’s fraught with both peril and stoicism. One’s filled with modesty and decorum. Others filled with happiness and sorrow. There was one time before that she was asked if she ever regretted trading a life of luxury and power for one so meager. That time if was rewound if she would make the same decision.

__

She had no regrets; she would make the same decision she made in a heartbeat. 

__

Kikimora ascends to the top and walks until she reaches the front door of Luz’s room. She raises a fist to knock but she then feels an unmistakable shift of reality course through her body. The world around her dims, the sound quiets, and the walls around her dissolve to reveal the empty landscape of her mind. 

__

“Well, this is certainly a surprise,” Unfazed, Kikimora turns around and was greeted with a decrepit, aged skull, a familiar guest in her mind, “It has been quite a while since we last met like this. To what do I owe this pleasure, Titan?” In her years in the prison, when the nights grow long and the scent of death hung in the air, she would be visited by the Titan of the Isles in her mind, much like their first meeting all those years ago. Deciphering the Titan’s meanings from their uttering of a single world has taken some time to learn but Kikimora was patient. Yet, unlike her first meeting, these meetings in the prison were brief with no reveal of images and events of the near future. Instead, they were often turned to lessons of the lost magics, the scribing of glyphs. She has learned much under the Titan’s tutelage, extensively memorizing the vast arrays of glyphs the Titan has shown her, but she hasn’t had opportunity to use it until now. Hopefully, it will be enough to get Luz back home.

__

**_TiMe_ **

__

“Time for what exactly?” Kikimora looks at the skull curiously, crossing her arms as she begins to think, “The only thing that I know that is urgent is making sure we find a way to travel across realms again as the portal door didn’t work.” 

__

**_LuZ_ **

__

“And what do you want with her, Titan,” She questions, her tone sharp with warning, “I hope that you aren’t thinking of doing something with her. She already suffered enough as it is. 

__

**_daNgEr_ **

__

“I am very much aware that she is in much danger here, Titan,” Kikimora states, “The Boiling Isles is no place for a witch to roam freely, no less a human. That doesn’t even take into account that once Belos knows that Luz is back on the Isles, he will stop at nothing until he claims her as his. That’s why I need to know how to get her back to Earth where she belongs.”

__

**_KeEP_ **

__

“Keep? What do you mean by-” Her eyes widen once she the realizes what the Titan meant by the word. Her talons curl into a fist as she tries to control her rising anger against the powerful being, “Don’t tell me that you were the one to null the travel through the portal door.” Her voice turns ice cold and glares directly into the flame-filled eye sockets of the Titan. She conjures flames in the palm of her hand, something that she learned to do after her first few prison meetings and points it at the skull in her moment of ire.

__

“I will not allow her to stay in this realm, Titan. You cannot be this foolish or senile to believe that this is the best course of action.”

__

**_TRaIn_ **

__

“Is this what all those years in that damnable prison has amounted to? As a tangible reservoir to pass on your teachings of the glyphs to my daughter?” Her flames burn brighter, matching the intensity that hid in the pyre within the Titan’s eye, “I may have been scarred in one eye, but I have not been left so blind, Titan. I have seen her drawings in her book. I know what those glyphs are. I’ve seen the way Luz looked at me when I drew your translocation glyph. It wasn’t wonder. It was _realization!_ ” She points the now incandescent flame towards the skull, the glow illuminating her scarred eye like a jewel reflecting sunlight.

__

“She will not be made to be another pawn in some grand scheme, Titan. I already defied one near omnipotent being. I can do so again.” 

__

**_Soon_ **

__

The world around her swirls back into life, as if her threat went unacknowledged. She nearly stumbles forward, almost losing control of the plate in her hands as she tries to regain her bearings from her talk with the Titan. 

__

_‘I will not allow her to be placed in unnecessary danger, Titan. This I swear to you.’_ She calms herself, reigning in the whirl of emotions clouding her mind after her meeting with the Titan. Steeling herself, she puts on a neutral face and knocks on the door.

__

“Luz, it’s Kikimora. I’ve brought you your food and will place it by the door.” She hears no answer. 

__

_‘How odd.’_ With the growing silence unnerving her slightly, she knocks on the door once again but this time with much greater force, “Luz, is everything alright in there? Luz?” There was still no answer. 

__

With fear growing in her heart, she swiftly opens the door, “Luz, is everything-,” Her stomach drops when she sees that no one was occupying the bed, the messy nest of blankets being the only sign of Luz being there. She quickly scanned the room for any evidence of Luz but there was no sign of her. It was like she disappeared into thin air. 

__

However, there was Eda’s defense system laying on the floor, dazed and in the perfect position to help her with Luz’s open notebook right next to him.

__

“You, creature,” Kikimora puts down the plate and marches towards Hooty, lashing out her hand and grabbing a handful of feathers under his chin, drawing the avian closer to her, “Where is Luz? Where has she gone?”

__

“Ohhhh,” The detestable bird manages to say, his eyes rolling like stars racing across the night sky, “My head is swirling.”

__

Kikimora shakes Hooty greatly to get him to refocus, “I do not need your nonsense right now, you incorrigible bird. I need you to tell me where Luz is right now, or your head is the least of your worries.”

__

“Ohhhh,” Hooty’s eyes seems to refocus, gaining back glean of intelligence, “Luz went bye-bye in a bright swirl of lights. Used your drawing thing too.” 

__

Kikimora paled once she recognizes what Hooty implied and let’s go of Hooty briefly to grab the notebook that laid strewn on the floor. Saying a silent apology to Luz, Kikimora quickly tore a page out from the notebook, being careful to avoid the sheer number of glyphs drawn unto the other pages. Using a stray pencil found on the floor, she swiftly scrawled the translocation glyph and shoved the drawing in Hooty’s face. 

__

“Is this what she has drawn?”

__

“Yeah, that!” Hooty answered, making Kikimora’s stomach to fall, “I was saying that it was a summoning thing, but Luz said it was a translocation thingy, whatever that means. I tried to show her that she was wrong, but she stopped me from touching it! And then POOF, a big light blinded me, and Luz wasn’t there anymore.”

__

“Oh no,” Kikimora’s worry grew tenfold; Luz could be anywhere right now on the isles with nothing to defend herself with. The glyph was meant to transport things to a clear destination but if drawn incomplete or roughly, the glyph should have gone haywire and forcing her to be dumped on a random patch of land. 

__

However, her hope was sparked anew when she remembered one crucial thought, “Creature, did Luz happen to wear her crystal necklace around her neck?” 

__

Hooty nodded enthusiastically, “Yeah! It was so shiny and pretty! Do you know where I can get one?”

__

Kikimora breathed a sigh of relief once she hears Hooty utter those words, “Thank you for your assistance, Creature. Your help is much appreciated.” She quickly makes her way out of the room, ignoring the babbling talk of Hooty behind her and mentally cursing herself for her ignorance.

__

_‘I should have been more careful,’_ Kikimora grimly thinks, making her way towards the front door, _‘I shouldn’t have just revealed the glyph to her like that. Now she might be in danger and to add to my misery, the Titan gave her the knowledge of the glyphs. Titan, what have you done?’_

__

“Hey, Kikimora, where are you going in such a rush?” Kikimora turns around to see Eda giving her a curious look, “Woah, what’s gotten you so grim looking?”

__

“It’s Luz.” That immediately caught Eda’s attention, her eyes widened briefly before narrowing in anticipation, “She’s missing from her room.”

__

“She’s missing? How? Did she just magically disappear or something?”

__

“Unfortunately, yes.” Eda raised an eyebrow at that but Kikimora continued, “But I can track her though. She has a shard of a homunculus crystal on her person and I can track her through that.”

__

“I have so many questions regarding our resident human now that it is almost frightening to me,” Eda pinches the bridge of her nose, “For one, how did she disappear because last I checked, humans can’t do magic. Secondly, how in the Titan’s name did she, a person from Earth, get her hands on an artifact found only on the Boiling Isles.”

__

“Look, its…complicated, Edalyn,” Kikimora then looks determinedly at Eda, her eyes filled with purpose as she speaks, “But now is not the time for these questions. I have to find Luz before anything happens.”

__

“Not in your state you’re not,” Eda steps forward and raises her arm with her hand open, summoning her staff from within the inner workings of the house, “You just got out of prison a few days, didn’t you? The Emperor’s Coven will probably on high alert, and I don’t think that they would be fooled by a name change and a cloak.” 

__

“I appreciate your concern, Edayln, but you have no need to concern yourself. You can’t stop me; I am going.” 

__

“Then it is a good thing that I’m tagging along.” Kikimora gives Eda a surprised look, pausing in putting on the large shroud over her head. Eda then gives Kikimora a pointed look, “What? You don’t think I’m worried about the kid even after what you told me? Besides, you’ve been stuck in that prison for years and you could use a refresher on how to evade the authorities.”

Kikimora relaxes and gives Eda a weary but grateful nod, “Thank you, Edayln. You have no idea how grateful I am for you doing this.”

__

“Let’s just say you owe me more of those trinkets that you got from that little heist of yours. Now, you said you can track Luz through that crystal of hers, right?”

__

Kikimora nods and conjures a purple spell circle, “Yes, I can track the magic signature found in the crystal but even then, it won’t be as accurate as I hope. My…condition prevents me from using magic as well as before.”

__

Eda gives a sympathetic look at the demon, her eyes straying to Kikimora’s hands, that were covered and scarred with black tendrils, “You don’t have to tell me twice. Not often you see someone use Necromantic magic. Or survive.”

__

“Indeed,” Kikimora nods solemnly and lets herself fully concentrate at her task in hand. She focuses, allowing her magic to flow through her and direct it to her goal. Her mind orients itself to track the magic imprint she left on the necklace all those years ago when she gave it to Luz; the necklace Luz may be a shard now, but it should still have some vestiges of her magic left in it. 

__

A small tug on her mind causes her to have her hopes up and allows the magic to fully form an image in her hands. Yet, once the image was fully formed, she groans. 

__

“Of all the places that she could be, why is she there?”

__

Eda peaks over her shoulder, “What? Is it somewhere danger- OH! Oh. I am both disappointed and surprised.”

__

Kikimora sighs, “Indeed. Come along then, Edalyn. We are going to Hexside.”

__

The flight to Hexside wasn’t bad per say, the sky was clear, and the winds were fair, but due to increased surveillance by the members of the Emperor’s Coven keeping their eyes open for Kikimora, they had to slow down. They had to twist and turn to avoid guard patrols, delaying them further but they finally managed to land near Hexside, sequestering themselves to the nearby forest. 

__

“Tell me again why we didn’t use that glyph of yours that got Luz into this mess,” Asks Eda, clearly annoyed and starting to regret in joining Kikimora’s escapades in finding Luz, “Because I feel like that if we used it, we could’ve saved a lot of time that was spent on flying.”

__

“Because Edalyn, the glyph unfortunately produces large quantities of light when activated, something that will cause a great amount of attention and something that we don’t want to happen right now.”

__

“Sheesh, fine.” Eda hops off her staff with Kikimora following suit, dusting herself off with an annoyed huff, “Now, does our handy-dandy tracker spell say anything about where she is inside this place? Cause Hexside is a rather big place to look everywhere for.”

__

“Well,” Kikimora conjures the spell again, this time forming a set of large, red double doors, “It says that Luz near some set of doors.”

__

“Gee, how helpful,” Eda complains. She then leans in to get a closer look, “Wait, aren’t those the front doors of the school? Why would she be-” Eda is cut off when the stone masonry shudders, small specks of stones tumbling of the walls as explosions rock the very foundations.

__

“What is happening?” Eda finds herself talking to the empty air as Kikimora dashes to the front of the school, subtlety now lost as the demon’s mind races to rationalize what could cause this. 

__

_‘The Emperor’s Coven? No, they would have set a perimeter around the school. Perhaps Luz drawing glyphs? Maybe, but she must already know that they are magic.’_ In her pondering, Kikimora finds herself in front of the steps leading to the doors, thankful that the front courtyard was empty save for herself and Eda catching up to her. 

__

“Sheesh, wait up will you.” Eda calls out from behind her, “Give me a warning when you decide to run off, will ya? You’re not exactly the easiest to follow.” 

__

The school shudders once more and Kikimora can hear screams of terror from inside. She was about to rush in until the front doors explode outward with a familiar figure tumbling down the steps and landing on the ground, purple goo and dirt covering the figure’s now ruined clothing. 

__

“Luz!” Kikimora cries out, running over to the prone form of Luz and checking for injuries, “Thank the stars that you are okay!”

__

“Hecate?” Luz says dazedly. She tries to get up with one arm propped on her hat-covered head, “What are you doing here?”

__

“We were trying to find YOU, of course!” Luz’s eyes snap back with realization, her body stilling as Kikimora continues, “Do you have any idea how worried I was when you weren’t there in your room and with Hooty on the ground? With your open notebook no less! I thought the worst!”

__

Luz shrinks at the verbal dress-down, looking away guiltily before she stills, processing what she heard. Her eyes widen and she turns to Kikimora, “So you really do know what my drawings are.”

__

Now it was Kikimora’s turn to look taken aback, “Well, yes but now is not the time!”  
“I second that,” Eda pipes up from behind Kikimora, bringing her staff to bear, “Whatever is going on with you two can be saved once we get away from whatever is causing this mess in Hexside.” 

__

Kikimora turns and gives a nod to Eda before looking back at Luz, “This conversation isn’t over, Luz. You will explain why you are in Hexside once we arrive safely at Eda’s home. Do you understand, Luz?”

__

Luz lowers her head with dejection, “Yes, Hecate…”

__

With everyone mounted on the staff, they took off quickly, barely avoiding the oncoming rush of students running out of the building with smoke billowing from the building’s interior.  
Eda gave a low whistle when she turned her head to witness the rush, “Wow, kid, didn’t think you had it in you to tear down a school. Kind of puts me to shame.”

__

“It was kind of an accident?” Luz winces as she tries to curl up into a ball mid-air while still clutching the staff, “I didn’t mean to cause any of this though. I just wanted to help someone.”

__

“While admirable, Luz, it was not exactly wise to cause this much damage.” Kikimora states, causing Luz to shrink further. 

__

“Take it easy on the kid, Hecate,” Eda says, “The kid knows what she did was wrong, so you don’t have to remind her about it. Save that until we get back to my place.”

__

“So be it.” The three flew in silence as the wind whistled past their ears, the cries and shouts of terrified students quieting as they flew farther and farther from the school. 

__

It was about the halfway through their journey when Luz decided to speak. 

__

“Hey, Hecate,” She says it quietly, “Can I ask you something?”

__

Kikimora taps Eda on her shoulder, silently conveying the need for privacy before turning her head to Luz, “Yes, Luz? What do you want to ask?”

__

“Is it okay if I go to Hexside to, y’know, study magic and stuff?” Luz looks awkward as she rubs the side of her arm, “I just…I know I can’t cast magic, but I want to find a way back home too. I kinda figured that a magic school is the best place to learn about it so,” Luz at Kikimora hesitantly, “Can I please go to Hexside, Hecate?”

__

Kikimora hesitates in her answer, a rising tide of emotion ebbing and flowing through her as she debates with herself. It was only a few moments later until she gives an answer. 

__

“I’m sorry, Luz, but no, you can’t go.”

__

* * *

__

Luz stares into the darkened horizon glumly, her body slouched as looks out from her window. 

__

_‘Stupid weather.’_ Luz complains in her head as she witnesses the countless droplets of boiling rain sizzling as they make contact with the environment. She was already in a stupor from three days ago, when Hecate rejected her offer to go to Hexside. The weather certainly wasn’t helping her mood.

__

_‘Why didn’t Hecate want me to go to the school? I just wanted to help them.’_ Luz crossed her arms and slouched further into the windowsill, _‘And I’m still not any closer to figure out these glyphs.’_ Luz tried to ask Hecate about the glyphs in her notebook and how the demon knows them, but Hecate declined to answer, citing it was for another time. 

__

So, Luz is now mulling over her options. Does she continue to draw her glyphs, knowing that she could accidently cause a black hole, or does she continue to bug Hecate for answers?  
Before she could mull it over any further, she spots from the corner of her eye Hecate walking calmy through the rain with an orange barrier surrounding the demon. She snaps to attention, wondering why Hecate would go outside at this terrible time. She soon got her answer when Hecate turns briefly towards Luz, Luz was able to spot something that was clutched in her hands.

__

_‘Flowers? Why does she have flowers?’_ Luz was puzzled over her discovery. Hecate was holding a small bouquet of colourful flowers that was wrapped in a demure purple cloth of binding. The demon was holding the bouquet closely to her chest as Hecate made her way into the forest. 

__

_‘Where is she going?’_ Luz wonders, pausing briefly before quickly writing in the margin of her journal to remind herself to talk to Hecate. 

__

Once she finished writing it down, she lets out a brief yawn, feeling a sudden weight come down on her as her eyes struggle to stay open, _‘Maybe a quick nap can do me some good?’_ She soon makes her way to her bed and lays down, the grasps of her sleep quickly taking her in its embrace. 

__

**_Luz NocEdA_ ******

********

__

********

Luz quickly opens her eyes and bolts upright, seeing her entire world crumble into dust before her and revealing the dark mindscape housing the Ancient Skull she met only once before. 

********

__

********

And staring right in front of her was the Skull looming over her, its flames staring straight into Luz’s soul.

********

__

********

**_WeLCoME_ ******

************ ** **

__

************ ** **

“Uh, hello?” Luz says hesitantly as she tries to get used to the feeling of weightlessness around her. “C-Can I help you? D-Do you need something?”

************ ** **

__

************ ** **

The skull creaks with movement, its mouth moving with soundless words. She can see specks of dark-coloured dirt crumble off the worn-looking skull and the fire in its eyes flickers before the world around her rumbles with noise and power. 

************ ** **

__

************ ** **

**_pRePArE_ ******

**************** ** ** ** **

__

**************** ** ** ** **

“Uh, prepare for what, Mr…Scary…Skull…Thing…?” Luz asks hesitantly, making herself smaller with each word she says to the skull, “Prepare to go home? Prepare for the new day? Prepare for what? 

**************** ** ** ** **

__

**************** ** ** ** **

**_LiGhT_ ******

******************** ** ** ** ** ** **

__

******************** ** ** ** ** ** **

The skull’s mouth opens and an image flies through the gaping hole, stopping only in front of her. Once she looks down and sees the image, she is taken aback at how this one was easily recognizable with its structured lines and shapes.

******************** ** ** ** ** ** **

__

******************** ** ** ** ** ** **

“Hey, this is one of my glyphs from my dreams, the one that always appears surrounded by light. How do you know this?” She looks up to the skull, pointing a finger at the image in front of her, “Are you the one that’s been sending these?”

******************** ** ** ** ** ** **

__

******************** ** ** ** ** ** **

Her only answer was the deafening silence that followed her question. Not even the flickering pyres in the skull’s eye sockets give any semblance of sound. 

******************** ** ** ** ** ** **

__

******************** ** ** ** ** ** **

“Okay then.” She then turns back to the image, “Well, I don’t know why you want to show me this. I already drew this several times in my book, but I haven’t...really…tested it out.” Luz rubs the back of her head as she turns away with embarrassment, “I didn’t really know what would happen if I activated it, considering I couldn’t really _know_ that what they showed in my dream would be true. Especially after my first, accidental activation with that translocation glyph.” 

******************** ** ** ** ** ** **

__

******************** ** ** ** ** ** **

Luz pauses in her ramblings and adopts a thinking pose, her eyebrows knotted with thought, “Wait, is this what you meant? Prepare this glyph? I don’t know why I should listen to you though as I don’t really trust you. I don’t even know if you’re really real.”

******************** ** ** ** ** ** **

__

******************** ** ** ** ** ** **

Luz was snapped from her thoughts when the world around her rumbled, something eerily reminiscent to the time when the tower, her home on Earth, crumbled to the ground.

******************** ** ** ** ** ** **

__

******************** ** ** ** ** ** **

“WHAT IS HAPPENING!”

******************** ** ** ** ** ** **

__

******************** ** ** ** ** ** **

**_DANGER_ ******

************************ ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

__

********************** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

Luz snaps back awake, the black miasma of her surroundings disappearing as she tries to blink awake. However, she was greeted not with the familiar brown wood of her room’s ceiling. 

********************** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

__

********************** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

But with a creature snarling with a pale array of sharp teeth, and with eyes filled only with the black void.

********************** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

__

********************** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

“AAGH!” She instinctively swings her fist, blindsiding the creature and causing it to recoil. Taking her chance, she scrambles out of her bed and runs out of her room, hoping to escape this dreadful creature. 

********************** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

__

********************** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

_‘Crap, crap, crap, crap!’_ Luz immediately ducks into a nearby empty but open room, locking the door behind her. She feels the fear setting in as she buckles to the floor and lies with the back to the door, stifling her breath so that the creature can’t hear her, _‘What was that? How did it get inside the house? Does Eda know about this?’_

********************** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

__

********************** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

A sudden cluttering of noise almost causes her to shriek in fear, making her whirl to the source of the noise at the back of the room. However, from the dark shadows of the room emerges a friendly sight for the terrified girl, a skull-masked demon carrying a bag filled with bottles of golden liquid. 

********************** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

__

********************** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

“King!” Luz quietly yells as she lunges and wraps the little demon in a hug, “Oh, thank God you are okay. The creature didn’t get hurt you, did it?”

********************** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

__

********************** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

“No, Luz, I’m fine. Now please let go before you crush my tiny face!” Luz loosens her grip, allowing King to scamper and perch himself on Luz’s shoulder, “Alright, that’s better.”  
“Okay, that’s good to hear but do you know how to stop this creature? Or at least fight it?”

********************** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

__

********************** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

“Well,” King scratches a talon on his chin, “It had pitch-black eyes, right? Demons with those are typically sensitive to light. If we can stun it with light, I can toss these elixirs to clam it down. Do you have anything in your meager human belongings that can summon a lot of light?”

********************** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

__

********************** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

“No, I-,” Luz pauses, realization setting in as she stands up quickly, “I-I think I do actually. I’m not sure it can work but its our best bet.” 

********************** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

__

********************** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

King looks at her worriedly, “Are you sure about that? We don’t really have any other chances.”

********************** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

__

********************** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

“Just trust me, King,” Luz clutches tightly the necklace around her neck, the familiar hardness of her mother’s gift giving her a sense of calm, “I just need to get to my room.”

********************** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

__

********************** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

King gulped, “Okay. Let’s do this.”

********************** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

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Quietly, Luz opens her door and peeks her head out and, after seeing that there was no sign of the beast, silently makes her way to her room with King tightly holding on to her person. As she nears her room, she hears no sound coming from inside, so she peaks her head in, breathing a sigh of relief when nothing was inside. 

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“Okay, we’re in your room,” King whispers, “Where to now?”

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“To my desk. It should still have some of my supplies there.” Luz keeps her breath even, her footsteps silent amongst the floorboards as she makes her way to her messy desk. However, luck was not on their side as once Luz reached her desk, a piercing wail cried out from behind them. Turning around, Luz can see the hulking from of the beast at her doorframe, snarling with bared teeth. 

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“Hurry, Luz! Do your thing while I distract it!” In a fit of bravery fit for the king of demons, King leapt off her shoulder and towards the beast with bag in tow. 

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Biting back a response and with worry filling her stomach, Luz turns back to her desk and scrambles for a piece of free paper and a pencil.

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_‘C’mon, c’mon, you’ve drawn this like a million times already. Hurry!’_ Luz hurriedly sketches the glyph that both her dreams and the Skull has shown her. In her rush to complete it, she crudely drawing the shapes making up the glyph and makes some errors in the details, but she has no time to fix them. 

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“Weh!” With that pained cry, Luz turns around, glyph in hand, just in time to see King laying on the ground clutching his head and the creature with its arm raised to strike the blow. 

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“Look out!” With no hesitation, Luz places herself in front of King and stares down the creature. In the fraction of a second that she places herself in front of the creature, she brushes her crudely drawn glyph with her thumb and the world exploded in a bright, harsh light. The light was nothing like her dreams where once there was the gentle embrace of her dreams was now the harsh radiance of reality illuminating the room with it’s incandescence.

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_WRAAGH!_

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In a last act of defiance, the beast lashed out, striking Luz with a force of a freight train and sending her flying across the room. She crashes onto the hard wall and crumples to the floor, feeling the world slip away until she blacks out.

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* * *

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_“Mama, where are we going?”_

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_“Don’t worry, Luz. We are just going on a little field trip, don’t worry.”_

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* * *

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“Luz? Luz, are you alright? Can you hear me?” A muffled sound comes from her side. She tries to recognize the voice but the pain pulsing from her head is acting like a shroud covering her judgement. She tries and she tries but any attempt to listen was met with a painful surge coursing through her head. She attempts to open her eyes, but the encroaching pain forces her to keep it closed. However, she can still sense that someone was beside her, watching her as she wakes up.

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“Mama? Is that you?” Luz says quietly, the words slipping out in her delirium of pain. She can feel something shift and she can feel something rugged clutch her hand gently. 

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“I…I’m here for you, Luz.”

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“Oh…Okay…” Luz whispers as she soundly drifts back to the soft bliss of deep sleep, relaxing as she falls further and further into her dreams. 

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When she woke up, it’s a shame that she couldn’t remember the voice that was beside her.

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* * *

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“Luz, go to your room.”

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“But-,”

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“No buts! We will talk later. Right now, I need to talk with Eda.” Luz sulks as she lays her head low and walks up the stairs to her room. Kikimora then turns her attention to Eda who was paying particular attention to her mug of Appleblood, “Care to explain yourself, Edalyn?”

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“Explain what exactly?” Eda tries to feign ignorance, but her passive mask of emotion was not fooling someone who lived as a spy for the Emperor. 

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“You are not fooling anyone, Edalyn.” Kikimora’s face was filled with an uncharacteristic anger as she points an accusatory talon at the grey-haired witch, “Why on the Titan’s name did you think it was a good idea to bring her to this year’s Covention? That place is a veritable swarm of Emperor’s Coven members.”

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Eda places down her mug on the table and gives a sigh, “Yeah, I know it was going to be filled to the brim with witches, but can you blame me? I wanted to do something for the kid after I knocked her out by accident when I was in my cursed form. Figured that this was something to bring her out of the dumps.”

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Kikimora can feel her anger fade away and was filled in with a sense of weariness, causing her to sag her shoulders and sit down on a nearby chair pinching the bridge of her nose, “I…I know, Edalyn, and I thank you for it but there must have been something else that you could’ve done that doesn’t amount to exposing yourself like that.”

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“Well,” Eda scratches the back of her head, “I don’t really know, myself. Don’t really have much to do around here except brew potions and sort through the veritable mountain of garbage I have. Don’t think the kid would like that for long.”

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Kikimora let’s out a breath of acceptance, “I…I understand. Just make sure that this doesn’t happen again. I can only hope that you two didn’t cause any trouble while I was gone,” Kikimora then gets out her chair and makes her way to the stairwell, missing Eda’s widening eyes, “I’m going to talk to Luz. We may be long so please help yourself to the food in the fridge.” With that, Kikimora makes her way up the stairs, forcing her to confront the veritable stonewall in front of her. 

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Taking a breath, Kikimora knocks on Luz’s door. “Come in,” She can hear Luz weakly say as she opens the door and enters. She sees Luz wrapped in blankets and facing the wall, breathing a bit erratically as if on the verge of tears. 

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“Luz, I-”

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“I’M SORRY!” Luz’s outburst catches Kikimora by surprise. Luz’s body shivers under the blankets as her voice cracks from her shame, “I’m sorry that I went out with Eda and to the Covention. I’m sorry for not following what you said before. I’m sorry.” Kikimora’s heart breaks as she hears Luz on the verge of tears and from the words pouring out of her. 

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“I’m sorry, Hecate, for doing that. It won’t happen again.” Luz sniffs as she curls herself inward, not bothering to look at Kikimora as her shame was too much to bear. 

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“Luz,” Kikimora says gently, startling Luz from her hold who was no doubt expecting a much harsher voice, “You don’t have to cry. You’re not the one at fault here.”

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“B-But,” Luz shoots up from her bed and spins around so that she looks at the demon, “I went against your warnings and went to the thing with Eda. I thought you would be mad at me for doing that, Hecate.”

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Kikimora let’s out a sigh and sits down on the nearby chair, “To be perfectly honest, Luz, I was mad.” Luz deflates once she hears Kikimora say those words, but the demon continues, “I was mad that you put yourself in unnecessary danger by exposing yourself to that many people.”

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“Wait, was? You’re not mad at me now?”

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“No, not anymore. Luz looks like a weight was lifted from her shoulders once Kikimora said that, “Once I had my small talk with Eda, I realized that I was more worried that you could’ve been hurt. I’m sorry for acting like that, Luz. I was just looking out for your won well-being.”  
“I see,” Kikimora looks to see Luz mull something over, biting the corner of her mouth before the girl pipes up again, “Why are you so concerned about me anyway? I get that you want me to keep safe, but this feels a bit much. Why are you protecting me like this?”

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Kikimora pauses at her words, her mind a hurricane of activity as she tries to find the best way to answer this, but her guilt gives in and she gives the best answer that she could. 

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“I…I think its time to tell you something very important. But not here. Please, Luz, follow me.

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* * *

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“Where are we going, Hecate?” Luz stumbles her way through the thick foliage of leaves of branches, barely able to keep pace with the demon in front of her who was walking without hindrance, “This place seems a bit far from Eda’s house. Are you sure this is okay?”

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“It will be fine, Luz. I can promise you that,” Hecate states, deftly moving through another set of bushes. In one of her hands, the same bundle of flowers that Luz has seen Hecate carry during the day with the boiling rain was clutched tightly. The vibrant flowers giving a stark contrast to the purple paper that was bundling them together. 

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After a few short minutes more, Hecate stops, “We’re here.” 

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When Luz caught up to Hecate, she gasped with her eyes sparkling with wonder, “Woah.” 

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In front of the duo was an aged pillar surrounded by creeping roots and weeds, the stone worn from the passage of time. The pillar was about as tall as her, the stone shaped into an obelisk like some monuments back home on Earth. Oddly, there were no marks or signs of damage from the boiling rain and there was nothing to denote an identity save for an aged carving of a blooming flower. 

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There was a small tug in her mind; this place felt familiar, but she couldn’t understand why.

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“Is this what you wanted to show me?” Luz asks, turning her head to the now sullen-looking demon. 

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“Yes.” That was all Luz received as an answer. There was something in Hecate’s voice, something that sounded like regret intertwined with guilt. With the short time that Luz has known Hecate, she hasn’t seen the demon like this before. Just what is this place?

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“Come, Luz.” The demon beckons as she walks closer to the pillar, stopping just in front of the obelisk’s base. Luz stayed close behind, not wanting to be far apart from Hecate and the sense of security she feels when she is close to the demon. 

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“What are we doing here though?”

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“To pay my respects.” Hecate then kneels, placing the flowers neatly on the base of the monument. Her eyes were closed in silent contemplation and her breathing slows, much like Luz’s mind as Hecate’s words sink in. 

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_‘This is a grave…’_ Luz feels something twist in her stomach as she takes a spot beside Hecate, kneeling on the ground as she mirrors the posture of the demon. She begins to fidget and clasps her crystal necklace, feeling the stone’s warmth course through her fingers.

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“I’m sorry, Hecate,” Luz starts. She looks down to the ground racked with guilt, her long hair acting as a shroud covering her face as she clutches the hem of her shirt, “I didn’t know-”

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“It’s okay, Luz,” Hecate places a hand over Luz’s hand, the warmth of the demon’s hand contrasting the encroaching cold creeping up her fingers, “You do not need to feel sorry. You had nothing to do with this.”

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“Oh.” She then looks up at the gravestone, her heart twisting at the sight of the flower, “Were you close with them?”

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Hecate let’s out a small, tired sigh, “Not exactly. I barely knew the woman.”

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“Wait, really?”

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“Yes. But she was the reason for who I am today.”

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Luz turns to her head, perplexed at Hecate’s words, “What do you mean?”

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“She…She showed me something else than the life I used to live. I must confess, Luz, but back then, I wasn’t a good person. I…did things that I’m not proud of.”

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“But you stopped, right? With her help?”

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“Not for a long time, Luz.” Hecate looks down in shame, staring at the bouquet of flowers fluttering in place from the wind.

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“So then how did she help you?”

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“By giving me a purpose other than what I was trained for. I lost so much after, but I don’t regret a single thing afterwards.” There was a shimmer in Heacate’s eyes as she continues to speak, as if the very words were sparking long held emotions hidden away in the very corners of the mind.

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Luz shuffles closer to Hecate, turning so that she can fully see the demon, “What did you do?”

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Hecate hesitates for a brief moment, “I…I took care of her daughter. I raised the child as my own.” Luz gasps at the revelation, taken aback by the implication of the said words. Hecate continues albeit with some struggle in her voice, “She lost her life trying to protect the young infant. I…I was there to witness her last moments, but the mother promised me to make sure her daughter was safe.”

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“Why did she lose her life?” There was a brief moment of anger that tinged in her voice, an anger controlled by clutching her shirt tightly with her other hand, “It sounds like she didn’t deserve to die.”

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“She didn’t, Luz. That’s why I’m worried for you,” Hecate then turns her full attention to the girl, “The mother was…different than other witches. She couldn’t cast any magic, so she was targeted and murdered because of it.”

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“That’s horrible! That’s just…wrong!” Luz strikes the ground with anger, seething with emotion as she thinks of the stolen future that the mother could’ve had.

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Hecate gives a solemn nod, “It is. That’s why I am afraid of you being discovered, Luz. If witches find out that you can’t cast magic, then they will harm you in ways I cannot even fathom. Especially if they also find out that you are a human.” 

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“That’s why I acted like that when you returned from the Covention, one of the biggest gathering of witches on the Isles. So, promise me, Luz, that you will be more careful from now on?”

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“I…,” Luz thinks back of what happened earlier. The cascading sounds of the crowd roaring in approval as she fought Amity. The boos of realization when they found the witch unknowingly cheated from a power boost stemming from her mentor, Eda’s sister. She remembers the look of betrayal Amity had when the witch found out. If witches hold their honour of casting magic to that high regard, then what would they do to her?

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“I promise.”

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“Thank you, Luz.” Hecate then let’s go of her hand and stands up, turning and walking away from the gravestone. 

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“Come, Luz. We stayed too long. It’s time to head home.”

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* * *

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“Excuse me, Hecate? Can I ask you a favour?”

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Kikimora looks up from her magical research to see Luz at her door rubbing her foot on the ground and not looking directly at her, “Of course, Luz. What do you need?”

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Luz then shyly walks over and hands her a pair of shears, “I…I’m wondering if you can cut my hair for me. I’m not very good at it and I’m not sure I can trust Eda with cutting my hair.”

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Kikimora curiously looks at her, “But then why ask me to cut it? I could cast a spell to change it anyway you like.”

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“Yes, well,” Luz looks down, her face red with embarrassment, “I…want to spend more time with you. And I trust you.”

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“Oh,” Kikimora’s heart flutters at the words and a wide smile was threatening to spill from the corner of her mouth, “Then I shall see what I can do. I did have to cut my adoptive daughter’s hair from time to time so I should be able to make do.”

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For anyone that walked by one of the rooms of the Owl House, there was a strange sight that would cause anyone to have a double take. A demon and a human, chatting cheerfully and warmly as if they’ve known each other for a long time. The sounds of scissors expertly cutting through hair could be heard underneath the conversations held between the two. 

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Yet, the conversation took an interesting turn when Luz asked a certain question, “Hecate, can you tell me more about your daughter? You don’t have to tell me though if you’re uncomfortable.”

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Kikimora stops, the shears in her hand forgotten as she looks down at Luz from the mirror in front of them. When the snipping stops, Luz glances up and her mouth tumbles out with apologies but Kikimora silenced her with a raised hand, “It is fine, Luz. I can tell you about the daughter I raised. What do you want me to tell you?”

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Luz then gives a thoughtful look, “Well, can you tell me what she’s like?”

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Kikimora gives a soft chuckle, “She is an energetic child who can’t help but brighten the room that she enters. I think you would’ve liked her, Luz. You two have much in common.”

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Luz lets out a small laugh, “Stop, you don’t mean that! We can’t be that similar.”

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A small smile crept up on Kikimora’s face, “Really? Well, my daughter couldn’t keep herself out of trouble. She kept playing pranks and did mischief-making around the house when she was younger.”

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“She sounds like a handful.”

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“You have no idea, Luz. There was one time where I couldn’t get her to eat everything and she just tossed everything to the floor.”

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Luz gasps in mock surprise, “That fiend.”

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Kikimora laughs, “She was a demon, alright. I thought I would rip my hair out from the girl’s stubbornness. But,” Her face softens when the sounds of a laughing Luz rings in her mind, “She slowly crept her way into my heart.” 

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“Do you know where she is now? I kind of want to her now!” 

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Kikimora pauses, silent for a few good moments before looking at Luz with sadness in her eyes, “I…I had to send her far away from here. Things were getting too dangerous for me to keep her here, so we tried to leave.”

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Luz looks at Kikimora with sympathy in her eyes. Softly, she says, “Do you know where she is now?”

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Kikimora looks at Luz, her stomach twisting at the words, “I do. But I can’t meet here yet. It’s still too dangerous for the both of us. There are people after us and I couldn’t let them get their hands on my daughter.” She stretches out her scarred hands and squeezes them into a fist, “So I did what I could for my daughter and stopped anyone from reaching her. Even if it caused me to have great pain, I take solace in the fact that my daughter lives.”

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Luz gives a sympathetic smile, “I’m sure she will understand.”

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Kikimora gives a small nod and with one final snip, she gives a confirming hum, “We are done, Luz. Look.”

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“Woah, it’s so pretty…” Luz stands up from her seat and marvels at the image of her hair reflected from the mirror, shortened and styled like a pixie cut. She gives a wide, bright smile and turns around, wrapping her arms around Kikimora with a warm hug. 

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“Thank you, Hecate! It’s perfect!” She let’s go and rushes out of the room. However, she then pops her head by the door frame, “Thanks again! Also, I hope that you get to see your daughter again once everything’s all done!” Before Kikimora can reply, Luz dashes out, her footsteps thundering in the halls. 

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Kikimora releases a small sigh before giving a weary smile, “Oh, Luz. I already have.”

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* * *

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Luz tosses and turns, restless in her bed as she struggles to stay asleep. A small coat of sweat was covering her forehead as her breathing becomes laboured. 

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This was no dream or hallucination.

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This was a nightmare.

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Her mind screams like a Banshee’s wail, echoing in distress as her mind tries to cope. 

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There were flashes of images coursing through her mind, but they did not come with the gentleness found from the Ancient Skull. No, they struck with the force of a hammer striking the walls of her mind.

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The constant whispers and yells from these images continue to wear down her walls. The screams of pain echo in concert with her agony. She tries with all her might, but she can’t seem to will them away.

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_“GET BACK HERE, YOU BITCH!”_

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_“There is much more work to do for the Day of Unity and we must not delay.”_

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_“It seems that you are having some difficulties.”_

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_I. See. You_

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The last one echoes in the recesses of her mind, rising from a small whisper to a cacophony of discordant sounds. There was image rising from the depths, one of a withered man perched on a golden throne with his blue eyes staring right at her. And above him was a large, rotting, green heart pumping with every second.

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It was at this moment that she wakes up with a scream. 

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There was no one to comfort her this time. No one to come to her aid. It was deathly quiet. She looks around and realizes this wasn’t her room. Where once there was wooden walls was replaced with layers upon layers of brick and mortar piled on top of each other.

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_I see we finally meet, Luz._

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Luz whips her head at the sound and sees a figure cloaked in a dirtied robe standing just in front of her. She opens her mouth to scream but to her horror, no sound comes out. She couldn’t speak. 

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_My apologies for meeting like this, Luz, but I had no other choice. Forgive me for my lack of discretion._

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Luz eyes the figure with caution. Every movement, every step the figure took was met with sharp eyes filled with warning.

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_You do not need to be afraid of me, Luz. I come bearing a gift to you._

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The figure conjures a staff into existence, one made not from wood like Eda’s staff, but one made of metal. The staff crackles with energy as an orb of energy rises from the orb on the top of the staff.

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_I come bearing answers to the questions you seek, Luz. One where I can give you a way back to your home. Does that sound appealing to you?_

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Luz hesitates, thinking back to the promise she made to Hecate. Yet, the corrupting feeling of desperation was clawing at her to accept it. The thoughts in her mind were at war at themselves, trying to reason and fight each other to find out the best course of action.

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She nods.

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_Good…_

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The figure points their staff at her, making the orb fly to her, stopping just in front of her.

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_Place your hands on it and all will be revealed._

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Hesitantly, she places a hand on the orb. A sudden rush of energy courses through her body as her body is racked in pain. She opens her mouth in a silent scream and her back was arched from the onslaught of images rampaging through her mind. 

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It…It was too much. Things were flying past her at a great pace, but she recognizes all of them. It was like a dam was broken in her mind, the memories flowing through her like a great flood. 

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She remembers.

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And she feels betrayed.

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_Good. You finally remember everything._

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Luz looks up, anger still on her face as she stares directly at the figure. She can feel her mind warp from the intrusion of memories, of the poison that leeched from their existence. 

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The figure raises a mechanical-like hand to her.

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_I know of your newfound anger. I can help you get revenge. I can teach you how to use the magic given to you, something that your caretakers are refusing to do. I only ask you to accept this offer and we will begin._

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Luz looks down at the hand and back at the figure.

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* * *

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“Luz, why are you in such a hurry?” The said girl stayed silent, uncharacteristically so, as both Kikimora and Luz made their way to the stone obelisk that served as a reminder of Camila’s sacrifice. 

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“The marker is not going anywhere. There is no reason for you to rush to go there.” In a strange reversal of events, it was Luz who was leading the way with Kikimora trailing behind. The girl was walking in a brisk pace, her eyes staring forward but lacking the mirth that were usually held. 

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“We’re here.” Luz utters flatly, her face lacking any sense of emotion. The stone obelisk was in front of them, unchanged from their last visit. 

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Kikimora’s pit of worry grew deeper as she turns confront Luz, “Is everything alright, Luz? Is something the matter?”

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“Oh, everything is alright, my dear Kikimora.”

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Before she could react, a red gout of concentrated flame strikes her on her side, knocking her away hissing in pain. 

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“Come now, Kikimora. I trained you better than that. Has your time in the prison dulled your senses?”

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The crunch of dirt signals someone stepping closer, “Or is it Hecate now?”

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Hearing the familiar venom of words come to existence, Kikimora looks up defiantly and sees one of nightmares come true, “Belos.”

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“The one and only, Kikimora.” The grandiose figure clad in white and gold robes steps forward, his staff humming in familiar power. She could feel her burn scars itch from recognition as Belos conjures a small flame in his hand, “To be quite honest, you were astonishingly easy to track. It was like you weren’t even trying. How unbecoming.”

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Kikimora ignores the obvious jabs and gets up, clutching her scorched side with one hand and conjuring a spell circle with the other. She turns her head to Luz, only to see the girl still in place.

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“Luz, you must leave!” She shouts, desperation in her voice, “This man is far too dangerous! Get out of here!” However, her stomach falls when Luz stays in place, her face devoid of emotion but her eyes were filled with hate.

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“Luz?”

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“Oh, how the mighty have fallen!” A cold revulsion and shock develop in her chest as she sees Belos walks towards Luz and stands beside her, one of his mechanical hands clasping Luz’s shoulder, “To think the Emperor’s Chief Assassin and Spy could stoop so low.”

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“What have you done to her!?” Shouts Kikimora, her hand primed to cast a spell but unwilling to do so, or lest her daughter be caught in the crossfire, “What have you done to Luz!?”

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“Nothing, my dear. Nothing at all.” Belos’ grip on Luz’s shoulder tightens but it causes no discomfort to Luz, “It was all. On. You.”

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Kikimora was taken aback, her break in concentration causing her spell to fizzle away, “W-What?”

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“You lied to me…” Luz whispers but the words were like a dagger to Kikimora’s heart.

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“You lied to me!” Luz says even louder, wrenching herself from Belos’ grip to walk closer to Kikimora but still keeping a distance away, “That was my mother that died that day! Not some random witch, my MOTHER!”

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“I…,” Kikimora was at a loss to what to say, the rage in Luz’s face causing her to stumble, “I wanted to tell you but-”

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“BUT WHAT!?” Luz shouts defiantly as she points a finger at her, “I know what you were doing that day. YOU LEFT HER TO DIE!”

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“She was already far to gone, Luz. Please understand!” Kikimora pleads but they fall on deaf ears as Luz shakes her head. 

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“BULLSHIT! YOU COULD’VE HELPED HER!” Luz then rips her crystal necklace from her neck and lets it dangle from her hand as she continues, “Do you know how hard it feels to know that everything you knew was a lie? DO YOU!?” There were tears in Luz’s eyes as she forces herself to continue.

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“Because I do now. I was forced to watch and see my life unfold as a lie. I was forced to see my real mother die while you try to murder me and then kidnap to shape me into something. Tell me that was a lie, _Hecate_. TELL ME THAT WAS A LIE!”

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“I…”

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"And my mother that I knew back on Earth? I learned it was a fake YOU sent after me. Belos showed me the truth, I saw the mother I knew crumple into dust and stone when I went into this realm! NOW THERE IS NO ONE LEFT FOR ME BACK ON EARTH NOW! BECAUSE OF YOU!” 

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“Luz, please understand I-”

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“NO!” Luz shouts, “I will not have you ruin what I have left. Especially since you tried to leave to escape with me long ago.”

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“I did it to protect you!”

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“From what? The bandits that were hunting for you?”

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“Bandits?” That takes Kikimora aback before her eyes widen sharply, “Luz, there were no bandits when I left. It was-”

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“LIES! ALL LIES!” Luz throws the crystal necklace at Kikimora’s feet, the once lustrous gleam now only reflecting a dull glow. Kikimora picks it up carefully in her hands and looks up to see Luz giving a sneer and turning her back to Kikimora. 

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“I’m done with you, Kikimora. Goodbye.”

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“Luz, no!” Kikimora tries to run after Luz but she was soon wrapped with magic bindings from several Emperor’s Coven members lying in wait in the surrounding overgrowth. She was soon apprehended and stood upright with several members flanking her. She also has the unfortunate view of seeing Belos walk towards Luz and clasp his steely hand on her once again.

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“Very good, Luz. Now, can you be a dear and do the honours?” Kikimora could only open her mouth in horror as Luz takes out a translocation glyph. She clasps it between her hand and, with a bright light and lurch, causes a change in location. 

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With a thud, Kikimora soon finds herself alone in a steel cage without her bindings. She quickly looks around, noticing the stone-walled room with her guards no longer beside her. She manically twists and turns to see any sign of Belos or Luz, but she could find no sign of any of them. Rather, she sees rows upon rows of stone statues in various positions with horrified expressions dotting their various faces. Her eyes then finally land on the final stone statue at the very end of the hall; three maidens with hands clasped in prayer with a green orb above their heads. At an unheard command, all three of their eyes glow in an ominous light.

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She collapses in defeat and exhaustion, the necklace that was clutched in her hand giving no sense of security. 

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She knows what’s about to happen.

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As if mocking her, Belos’ words echo in the chamber, bouncing off the walls in a rising resonance of volume. 

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_We’ll take good care of you._

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Her vision was then filled with a blinding green glow.

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end :D
> 
> Nope! Congratulations everyone, you're getting another chapter and an epilogue chapter! I hope you will stick with me and this story in the coming months! So, if you guys like the chapter, please comment, leave kudos, bookmark, share, and whatnot cause it really motivates me and gives me a smile when I see you guys like my story.
> 
> Until next time!


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